Select Committee · Women and Equalities Committee

Unequal impact? Coronavirus and BAME people

Status: Closed Opened: 9 Jun 2020 Closed: 4 Nov 2021 18 recommendations 1 report

Watch a British Sign Language explainer video here. From the Unequal Impact: coronavirus and the impact on people with protected characteristics inquiry, the Women and Equalities Committee is launching three sub-inquiries. Read more about our decision to launch the sub-inquires here . In this sub-inquiry, the Committee wants to explore the pre-existing inequalities facing BAME … Show more

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Third Report: Unequal impact? Coronavirus and BAME people HC 384 15 Dec 2020 18 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

4 items
4 Recommendation Third Report: Unequal impact? Coronavir… Accepted

We believe that current guidance is inadequately catering to the needs of BAME people and...

We believe that current guidance is inadequately catering to the needs of BAME people and the publication of translated guidance has been slow and often less accessible than English-language versions. The Government should update the guidance on the virus itself, how it transmits, and prevention strategies, in a clear, accessible … Read more

Government response AI summary
The government describes existing press, radio, TV, and BBC partnerships used to share COVID-19 information in multiple languages to reach ethnic minority audiences, without committing to updating general guidance.
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Government Equalities Office
5 Recommendation Third Report: Unequal impact? Coronavir… Accepted

We welcome the Government’s Community Champions scheme; it is a step in the right direction.

We welcome the Government’s Community Champions scheme; it is a step in the right direction. In order to ensure the scheme’s success, we urge the Government to liaise with BAME women and representatives of BAME women to encourage them to become Community Champions so that the scheme can successfully reach … Read more

Government response AI summary
The government commits to ensuring all local areas engage minority ethnic women in the Community Champions scheme, monitoring progress and addressing barriers to access information, testing, and vaccination.
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Government Equalities Office
7 Recommendation Third Report: Unequal impact? Coronavir… Accepted

We understand that data sharing is voluntary.

We understand that data sharing is voluntary. However, we believe it is the Government’s responsibility to build trust among BAME communities so that they are comfortable in volunteering data. We strongly disagree with the Minister’s approach and the resistance to deploy resources for data collection; this does not show a … Read more

Government response AI summary
The government confirms robust data is critical, outlining ongoing work within PHE to improve ethnicity data for COVID-19 cases and deaths, and mandating the UISPC to improve comprehensive and quality ethnicity data collection and analysis, including weekly vaccination data.
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Government Equalities Office
8 Recommendation Third Report: Unequal impact? Coronavir… Accepted

We recommend that the Race Disparity Unit extend the Ethnicity Facts and Figures website to...

We recommend that the Race Disparity Unit extend the Ethnicity Facts and Figures website to include a section on the BAME impacts of coronavirus specifically reporting the disaggregated share of BAME people being tested; the disaggregated share of BAME people infected and the disaggregated share of BAME deaths from the … Read more

Government response AI summary
The government states that the Ethnicity Facts and Figures website already features a dedicated page on Ethnicity and COVID-19, which includes links to key datasets providing disaggregated statistics on deaths, intensive care admissions, and infection rates by ethnic group.
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Government Equalities Office

Oral evidence sessions

3 sessions
Date Witnesses
15 Jul 2020 Dorian Kennedy · Department for Health and Social Care, Emma Fraser · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Jo Churchill MP · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Kemi Badenoch MP · Government Equalities Office, Marcus Bell · Equality Hub, The Rt Hon Christopher Pincher MP · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government View ↗
1 Jul 2020 Cym D'Souza · BME National, Dr Andrea Barry · Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Dr Zubaida Haque · Runnymede Trust View ↗
17 Jun 2020 Barbara Palmer, Dr Chaand Nagpaul · Council of the British Medical Association, Naz Zaman · Lancashire BME Network, Professor Kamlesh Khunti · University of Leicester, Professor Lucinda Platt · London School of Economics, Rosie Lewis · Angelou Centre View ↗

Who gave evidence

15 witnesses
WitnessOrganisationSessions
Barbara Palmer 1
Cym D'Souza · Chair BME National 1
Dorian Kennedy · Deputy Director, Children, Families and Communiti… Department for Health and Social Care 1
Dr Andrea Barry · Senior Analyst Joseph Rowntree Foundation 1
Dr Chaand Nagpaul · Chair Council of the British Medical Association 1
Dr Zubaida Haque · Interim Director Runnymede Trust 1
Emma Fraser · Housing Markets and Strategy Director Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government 1
Jo Churchill MP · Minister for Agri-Innovation and Climate Adaptati… Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 1
Kemi Badenoch MP Government Equalities Office 1
Marcus Bell · Director Equality Hub 1
Naz Zaman · Member Lancashire BME Network 1
Professor Kamlesh Khunti · Professor of Primary Care Diabetes and Vascular M… University of Leicester 1
Professor Lucinda Platt · Professor of Social Policy and Sociology London School of Economics 1
Rosie Lewis · Member Angelou Centre 1
The Rt Hon Christopher Pincher MP · Minister of State Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government 1

Correspondence

4 letters
DateDirectionTitle
2 Mar 2021 To cttee Letter from Kemi Badenoch MP, Minister for Equalities, to the Chair, regarding …
14 Jan 2021 From cttee Letter to the Chair from the EHRC relating to the Committee's recommendation to…
1 Sep 2020 To cttee Letter from Kemi Badenoch MP concerning Minister for Equalities on Coronavirus …
7 Jul 2020 To cttee Letter from the Nursing and Midwifery Council, concerning Unequal impact? Coron…