Herpreet Kaur Grewal

MPs are calling on the Government to condemn a west London borough’s proposals to cut funding for a black and minority ethnic women’s refuge if it does not expand its services to women from other ethnic groups.

Sixteen MPs have signed an Early Day Motion tabled by Ealing Southall MP Virendra Sharma which says that the London Borough of Ealing has proposed withdrawing funding from Southall Black Sisters (SBS) “on the basis that funding a single issue group could lead to segregation”.

The motion urges the Government to clarify its cohesion funding strategy and to condemn “publicly any moves towards this proposed funding cut”.

SBS says that it has been asked by the council to expand its services to women of other ethnicities. The charity says that if it does not do this, the £100,000 of core funding it receives from Ealing council – a third of its annual budget – will be withdrawn.

Hannana Siddiqui, joint coordinator at SBS, said that without an increase in funding from the counccil it would be unable to expand its services. She said: “We are not against expansion. But you cannot cut funding (to achieve this).” Siddiqui said that the council’s decision was partly due to its interpretation of draft guidance on cohesion funding, published last month by the Department for Communities and Local Government.

The draft guidance says town halls should promote community cohesion as a matter of course and only fund single ethnic groups if it can be proven that this is the best way to tackle social and economic problems (R&R, 8 February, p5).

But a spokesman for Ealing council said the decision had nothing to do with the draft guidance. He said the council’s criteria for funding simply sought to ensure “a duty to balance the interests of different racial groups and give appropriate access to services”.

Ealing council’s chief executive Darra Singh headed the Government’s Commission on Integration and Cohesion. The CIC’s final report recommended that funding “single issue” groups should be the “exception rather than the rule” (R&R, 15 June 2007, p1).

The council will make a final decision on whether to withdraw SBS funding on 1 April..