Last week the High Court ruled that London Councils had failed to meet their statutory equality duties when cutting the funding of 200 voluntary and community groups.
Pierce Glynn solicitors on behalf of the Roma Support Group took the judicial review in which the judge quashed the funding decisions and the London Councils were ordered to re-run the process with full equality impact assessments.
Over 200 hundred projects in and around the capital’s thirty-three boroughs face funding cuts after £10 million was cut from voluntary sector groups. These are groups that provide vital services to vulnerable and disadvantaged people and they are now facing closure or the withdrawal of vital services as a result. The cuts are likely to adversely affect BME communities. Groups affected by the decision also include: INQUEST, Asylum Support Appeals Project, Asylum Aid, London community law centre’s (including Brent, Lambeth, Central London, South West London and Springfield), the Law Centres Federation, Community Accountancy Self Help, Women’s Resource Centre, Respond and Clean Break.
Related links
Pierce Glynn: ‘London Councils judicial review’
Download a copy of the judgment (pdf file, 232kb)
Guardian letter: ‘Legal challenge to service frontline cuts’
Guardian: ‘Will the courts protect charities against the cuts?’