09 March 2001
With the new Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 giving all public sector organisations a duty to promote race equality (Public Finance, March 2), LGA chairman Sir Jeremy Beecham has castigated councils for their 'failure to respond with sufficient vigour'.
Only half of all councils know how many black and ethnic minority staff they employ or have a published policy to provide services fairly to all sections of the community, according to an LGA survey, Paved with good intentions?
In a letter to local authorities, Beecham said: 'Too many councils have failed to review their own policies and practices in terms of service delivery, employment, or championing racial equality.
'If we are to secure wide recognition and endorsement of councils' community leadership role, it is essential that local authorities are seen to reflect the needs of all members of the communities they serve.'
The chief executive of the Commission for Racial Equality, Gurbux Singh, continued the straight talking at an LGA conference on March 7.
Giving a range of examples where black and ethnic minority people suffer compared with their white counterparts, Singh said the public sector could not sit back and say it was doing a good job: 'I am a blunt-speaking individual and we have to be honest and upfront about the reality of the situation.'
Only 29% of authorities have accepted the definition of institutional racism, Singh said. 'In local authorities, less than 1% of chief executives are from ethnic minority communities, and I was one of them until last year so the figures are probably even lower now. Among directors and senior staff the figure is 1.5%. It is not palatable or acceptable that that is the state of modern public services.'
With legally enforceable powers in place, the CRE would police the public sector to ensure everyone gets 'more proactive', Singh said.
The LGA warned councils to ensure their policies and practices comply with the recommendations in the Macpherson report, published in the wake of the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence.
PFmar2001
