In July the Dorset Echo reported that Weymouth women’s refuge is to close because it does not cater for men. This is the latest in a number of threatened closures of specialist services working with targeted communities. These closures are taking places as commissioning moves towards larger contracts serving whole communities (procurement practices) and in the policy shift from equality and diversity towards cohesion and integration (multiculturalism and social cohesion).
At the same time key figures continue to champion and support the need and value of specialist services. 46 MPs from across the parties have signed Voice4Change England’s EDM supporting the work of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) third sector organisations. And in 2009 Lord Justice Moses gave a landmark ruling in the case of Southall Black Sisters versus Ealing Council that ‘there is no dichotomy between the promotion of equality and cohesion and provision of specialist services to an ethnic minority’.
Looking forward, the funding of specialist services remains uncertain. However, with continuing inequalities and a growing BME population (Ethnic, cultural and religious diversity), the need for BME-specific services looks set to grow rather than diminish.
Jemma
Third Sector ForesightIn July the Dorset Echo reported that Weymouth women’s refuge is to close because it does not cater for men. This is the latest in a number of threatened closures of specialist services working with targeted communities. These closures are taking places as commissioning moves towards larger contracts serving whole communities (procurement practices) and in the policy shift from equality and diversity towards cohesion and integration (multiculturalism and social cohesion).
At the same time key figures continue to champion and support the need and value of specialist services. 46 MPs from across the parties have signed Voice4Change England’s EDM supporting the work of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) third sector organisations. And in 2009 Lord Justice Moses gave a landmark ruling in the case of Southall Black Sisters versus Ealing Council that ‘there is no dichotomy between the promotion of equality and cohesion and provision of specialist services to an ethnic minority’.
Looking forward, the funding of specialist services remains uncertain. However, with continuing inequalities and a growing BME population (Ethnic, cultural and religious diversity), the need for BME-specific services looks set to grow rather than diminish.