Reflections on the Northern Youth Experience

News release from Voice4Change England and NAVCA

21^st May 2012

For immediate release

NAVCA and Voice4Change England alarmed by Government equalities ‘backwards step’

Voice4Change England and NAVCA have responded with alarm to last week’s equalities announcement by the Home Office, calling it a backwards step. Last week’s Home Office statement, on the outcome of the Equalities Red Tape Challenge and Reform of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), confirmed the Government will repeal the Socio-economic Duty and delay the implementation of the Dual Discrimination Duty.

The North West Infrastructure Partnership commissioned the Centre for Local Economic Strategies and the Centre for Local Policy Studies to research the impact of current policy on equalities and the specialist organisations that deliver to some of our most marginalised communities.

The research process lasted eight months, included 15 issue-specific focus groups, and involved over two hundred and fifty voluntary and community sector organisations from across the North West and looked at:

• The equalities impact of policy agendas around localism, big society, welfare, health, and economic growth;
• The socio-economic implications of a reduced focus on equality;
• The values of equalities focused voluntary and community sector organisations;
• The applicability of impacts and implications to the North West

Members of the BME VCS Coalition including V4CE have written a letter to the Guardian, calling on the Government to draw up a race equality strategy that provides leadership in the wake of rioting.