Council chief rejects report’s racist charge

Birmingham Council is institutionally racist, according to its
own report published last week.

But council leader Albert Bore said: “While I would accept that
there are examples of institutional racism in some areas of the
council, that quite emphatically does not mean that the council is
institutionally racist as an organisation.”

The Birmingham Stephen Lawrence Commission, set up by the
council and chaired by district judge Ray Singh, spent nearly 18
months investigating the implications of the Macpherson report for
the council and the city’s institutions.

Its study concludes that efforts of the council “have been
blunted by institutionalised racism”. It also contains a
wide-ranging agenda for action.

Meanwhile, residents fighting the transfer of 30 Birmingham
Council residential care homes to a private trust had their
application for a judicial review rejected last week. Residents
Action Group for the Elderly (Rage) plans to appeal against the
decision.