Leader of the Barnet Labour Group, Cllr Barry Rawlings said:

“There have been a number of reports highlighting that people from BAME communities have been disproportionately affected by Covid-19.

“We will be asking the Council to respond to these issues at the 17 June Policy & Resources Committee, and that responding to these issues is part of our local pandemic recovery planning.

“This week’s Public Health England report now states that people from BAME communities are up to twice as likely to die if they contract Covid-19 than white people, yet the report has not investigated the reasons for this nor made recommendations to tackle it.

“In addition, it is unacceptable, if true, that third party submissions from BAME groups may have been redacted from the published report.

“All of this has left many BAME people feeling mistrustful, and fearful of going to hospital when they become ill.

“We support the calls from BAME groups for the full uncensored report, including all submissions, to be published, and for a robust strategy and action plan to deal with structural inequality and racism that may be causing or contributing to the disproportionate deaths amongst BAME communities.”