An audit report said that all local councils in Scotland had developed policies and processes on race equality: but they needed to ensure these had a positive impact on services.
Source: The Impact of the Race Equality Duty on Council Services, Audit Scotland for Accounts Commission and Auditor General (0131 477 1234)
Links: Report | Audit Scotland press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Nov
An article examined the evidence on child poverty rates among different ethnic groups. Child poverty rates among ethnic minorities were higher than among white people, which suggested that policies to reduce these had been ineffectual. The factors underlying this differential included labour market disadvantage, insensitive mainstream services, and the language barriers that might cause low take-up of services, benefits, and tax credits.
Source: Viet-Hai Phung, 'Ethnicity and child poverty under New Labour: a research review', Social Policy and Society, Volume 7 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Oct
A report said that black and minority ethnic groups' experience of disadvantage was affecting their access to financial institutions and services. It identified specific points for further research and policy action to tackle this inequality, and said financial inclusion should be considered as being a necessary component of social justice.
Source: Omar Khan, Financial Inclusion and Ethnicity: An agenda for research and policy action, Runnymede Trust (020 7377 9222)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Jul
A report said that a lack of political representation for people from black and ethnic minorities was one of the key reasons for the lack of BME political participation. It also exacerbated a sense of alienation. The report recommended 'permissive/voluntary' types of positive action (rather than mandatory ones) in order to tackle the problem.
Source: Simon Woolley, How to Achieve Better BME Political Representation, Operation Black Vote (020 8880 6061)
Date: 2008-May
A report said that there were 'significant institutional obstacles' facing ethnic minority women seeking leadership roles in society. The personal prejudices of colleagues, and internal working cultures, limited their options for balancing family and working roles: yet ethnic minority women could bring distinct experiences, skills, and competencies to organizations that were otherwise dominated by white, middle-class men.
Source: Routes to Power: Ethnic minority women, power, participation and public life, Fawcett Society (020 7253 2598)
Links: Report | Fawcett Society press release
Date: 2008-May
A study found that nearly half of minority ethnic residents, including Muslims, said they had experienced race discrimination; and 30 per cent of recent Muslim migrants had experienced religious discrimination. This was cited as a key barrier to a sense of belonging in Britain.
Source: Hiranthi Jayaweera and Tufyal Choudhury, Immigration, Faith and Cohesion: Evidence from local areas with significant Muslim populations, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report | JRF Findings | JRF press release | Oxford University press release | MPACUK press release
Date: 2008-Mar
A study examined citizen governance from the perspective of women from black and minority ethnic communities in Birmingham and Wolverhampton. Over three-quarters of the women had experienced gender, race, and/or faith discrimination.
Source: Santosh Rai, Routes and Barriers to Citizen Governance, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report | JRF Findings
Date: 2008-Mar
A report presented findings from research which examined the drivers of black and Asian people's perceptions of racial discrimination in eight key public services. It set out the factors that contributed to perceptions of discrimination or fairness. It concluded with a range of recommendations, based on the respondents' suggestions, on how to ensure that public services were perceived to be fair.
Source: Marie-Claude Gervais, The Drivers of Black and Asian People's Perceptions of Racial Discrimination by Public Services: A qualitative study, Department for Communities and Local Government (web publication only)
Date: 2008-Jan