Decision to axe £1.4m funding for Birmingham voluntary groups ruled unlawful - West Midlands News - News - Birmingham Post

Decision to axe £1.4m funding for Birmingham voluntary groups ruled unlawful - West Midlands News - News - Birmingham Post: "Mr Justice Blake said a Birmingham City Council decision to stop giving money to groups such as the Citizens Advice Bureau was “clearly defective” and that councillors appeared not to understand their obligations under the Race Relations Act, Sex Discrimination Act and Disability Discrimination Act.

Council leaders failed to take proper account of the impact that withdrawing grants would have on disabled and vulnerable people, the judge added.

No consultation was carried out with people who would suffer because of the funding cuts, neither did the cabinet consider other ways of helping the organisations to identify alternative funding."

Mr Justice Blake dismissed the claim, adding that the local authority’s financial difficulties did not mean that it could ignore equalities legislation.

He said: “There is much to be said for the proposition that, even in straightened times, the need for clear and informed decision making that assesses the impact on disadvantaged members of society is great, if not greater.”