Perth and Kinross Council accused of “over-kill” on ethnic minorities

Feb 5 2010 by Johnathon Menzies, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

THE WORK Perth and Kinross Council does to help people from ethnic minorities has been described as “overkill”.

The shock claim came to light as the local authority’s housing and health committee met this week to discuss a raft of issues relating to homelessness and affordable accomodation stock.

Making the claim, Letham-based councillor John Flynn asked why an equalities action plan is needed when the council already refers to itself as inclusive.

He also asked housing officer Helen Turley: “How many people from black and ethnic minority groups do we have in Perth and Kinross?”

Mrs Turley replied: “We have a small number of ethnic minority communities throughout the region and we need to identify them.

“It is part of human rights legislation – we need to make sure that people from different backgrounds are able to access our services.

“They need to be informed of the work we do and we need to be aware of their specific needs.

“An example would be making publicity material available in another language.”

Councillor Flynn also raised concerns about some of the terminology used elsewhere in a local housing strategy report, claiming “the man on the street” may have difficulty understanding jargon such as ‘affordable housing’.

Raising a series of other points, he continued: “Cases of domestic abuse against men are on the increase.

“I feel any reference to the subject in the report should read ‘domestic abuse to the person’, rather than just women.

“Also, there is no mention of over-crowding, which has the potential to cause just as much danger to the family unit as homelessness.”

Committee convener Peter Barrett said the department was working hard to address all the issues raised. He added the local authority “was leading the rest of Scotland” in attempting to tackle them.