星空传媒

Liverpool 8 Law Centre and the Northern Complaint Aid Fund in Bradford are among four equality councils that have lost their funding from the Commission for Racial Equality.

CRE chairman Trevor Phillips has changed the way money is given to local activists, aiming to increase efficiency and effectiveness.

Speaking at the Association of London Government's conference on Saturday, Phillips said: "We were giving out the best part of 拢5m without any accountability and quite often acting against the interest of community cohesion and race equality.

"[We will now] pay for casework but people have to be accountable, and in one or two cases they have decided they don't want to and that's fine. Giving money to some people has been the enemy of race equality and I refuse to do it any more."

Under the old system, 拢5m was shared out in grants to local race equality councils. Now the councils have to bid for a share of the money, which can also go to churches, mosques and other community bodies.

The Northern Complaint Aid Fund, which received 拢238,000 from the CRE, will close at the end of the month due to lack of funding.

Giving money to some has been the enemy of race equality and I refuse to do it any more

Trevor Phillips, chairman, CRE

Liverpool 8 Law Centre can afford to pay its 拢25,000-a-year race complaints officer for another two months, but after that staff will have to cover his post voluntarily.

Maria O'Reilly, coordinator of Liverpool 8, is running a letter-writing campaign on behalf of both organisations to try to make Phillips change his mind.

She said: "I'm very, very angry and determined to fight this right up to the highest level."

She maintains that Liverpool 8's complaints officer is accountable and says the CRE would be welcome to carry out a full audit, but that it never has.