Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with community-based organisations about supporting BAME communities to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Government has been engaging with community-based organisations to reach, engage and communicate with those disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, in particular people from Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities. Through our community champions scheme we are working with organisations, such as Strengthening Faith Institutions and Near Neighbours, that have successful track record of delivering initiatives in grass root communities to support BAME communities recover from the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.

These organisations work directly with communities to identify and train community champions. Government is working with them to promote relational community engagement, including up-to-date public health messages and to promote positive messages within government guidelines on how to make local activities safer. Government is also working with them to develop resilience and increase mechanisms for outreach, communication and engagement, and is developing strategic communications which trains those communities and supports BAME community organisations to sustain, scale-up and develop COVID-19 response projects and activities to recover from impact of the pandemic.