Ulele Burnham examines how courts interpret positive equality obligations in public law
In R (Kaur and Shah) v LB Ealing [2008] EWHC 2062 (Admin) Judicial Review proceedings were brought by two clients of Southall Black Sisters (SBS), a well-established specialist service directed at providing support and assistance for victims of domestic violence from predominantly black and asian minority communities, against Ealing Borough Council (Ealing).
Funding
The Ealing decision subject to challenge was a decision to withdraw funding from SBS on the grounds that SBS’s focus on black and minority women was at odds with its perceived obligation to sponsor a borough wide service for all irrespective of race. Ealing relied in particular on the notion that a borough wide service which did not target or cater to specific sectors/groups was an important building block
in community “cohesion”. The claimants complained that Ealing had failed, in breach of its race equality duty contained in s 71 of the Race Relations Act 1976 (RRA 1976), to conduct a proper race equality impact assessment before deciding to withdraw
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