Category Archives: Ministerial correspondence

BG/P/3/4/12

File comprises Bernie Grant’s written exchanges with correspondents such as the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; Minister of State; Parliamentary Under Secretary of State. Includes associated press release and also relates to issues such as ethnic minority representation on public bodies eg the food advisory committee.

BG/P/3/4/13

Correspondence, media releases and research reports relating to restraint related deaths and the call for the resignation of the Head of Prison Services, Richard Tilt. Relates to subjects such as black deaths in custody, Alton Manning, law and order, racism.

BG/P/3/4/14

Correspondence to Bernie Grant concerning Objective 2 funding and its impact upon London boroughs. Includes written exchanges with chief correspondents such as the Leader of Haringey Council, George Mechan; MP Oona King; North London Manufacturers Action Group (NLMAG); Secretary of State Stephen Byers. Also includes annotation provided by Sharon Grant stating that a particular piece of correspondence on file ‘initiated a battle royal in the months before Bernie Grant died, which he won, by persuading Stephen Byers MP’ [Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry]. Relates to subjects such as employment, urban regeneration, economic deprivation, community development, business development.

BG/P/3/4/6

File consists of ministerial correspondence relating to issues such as the Immigration and Asylum Bill, education, Bernie Grant’s visit to High Wycombe, youth unemployment, black representation, sport and African-Caribbean peoples, sport and Asian peoples, ‘dependent British territories’. Includes annotations by Sharon Grant highlighting particular correspondence such as the ministerial response to Bernie Grant’s letter concerning the lack of black representation on the Race, Employment and Education Forum (REEF), and a response to a letter from the Minister for Sport and Media Culture wherein Bernie Grant was attempting to set up a football tournament for black country teams.

BG/P/3/4/7

File consists of correspondence relating to the launch of a major discussion document entitled ‘Building E=Quality – Minority Ethnic Construction Professionals and Urban Regeneration’. Includes launch invitation list, correspondence inviting speakers, and a summary of the discussion document. See related material in the files of the Black International Construction Industry records.

BG/P/3/4/8

Bernie Grant’s correspondence with the Department of Education and Employment, and associated press releases re a local Tottenham campaign issue involving the administration of Langham School.

BG/P/3/4/9

Correspondence between Bernie Grant and correspondents such as Baroness Symons [Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office], and Tony Banks [Minister for Sport] concerning issues such as sport and black country teams, and entry refusal to African business people.

BG/P/3/4/10

File comprises correspondence with a diverse range of ministers, council leaders and Members of Parliament concerning issues such as the following: asylum seekers, National Lottery and ethnic minorities, global poverty, enterprise development, Ministerial Advisory Forum on Race, Stephen Lawrence, education and employment in Haringey, heritage, international development, trade, aid, sport, health, establishment of the Caribbean Advisory Group, Caribbean industry and bananas, inner city youth employment projects, race relations, All Party Group on Race and Community, welfare, Black artists and musicians, marginalisation of Black and minority ethnic film makers, business exchange visits, South Africa, Teaching and Higher Education Bill (Lords), ethnic minority recruitment and the police force, Montserrat, United States Black Economist Professor Ron Walters. Includes written exchanges with correspondents such as Jack Straw [Secretary of State], Barbara Roche [Parliamentary Under Secretary of State], Clare Short [Secretary of State for International Development], Frank Dobson [Secretary of State for Health], George Foulkes [Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department of International Development], Robin Cook [Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office], Tom Cox [Minister of State, Department of Heritage], Herman Ouseley [Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality], Doug Henderson [Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth office]. Some correspondence of note includes Bernie Grant’s letter with Clare Short re issues such as youth exchanges, Global Trade Centre [previously, International Trade Centre], the Black International Construciton Organisation (BICO), and ‘mutual benefit’ arrangements; letter concerning the opening of the International Trade Centre; and a personal facsimile issued to the House of Commons speaker re Bernie Grant’s ailing health and desire to attend the Home Secretary’s statement on the MacPherson Report into the death of Stephen Lawrence.

BG/P/3/4/11

File includes correspondence between Bernie Grant and Baroness Symons [Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office]. Relates to Lagos and the Global Trade Centre.