SOME 125 leading women and men from UK’s architecture, engineering, design and construction industries have signed an open letter to prime minister Boris Johnson, about the disproportionate effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on BAME and socially disadvantaged communities.

Coordinated by architect Elsie Owusu OBE, Design Director Umi Baden-Powell and Amos Simbo, founder of the Black People in Construction (BIPC) network, the letter expresses concern that:

“The pandemic has revealed that communities are affected differently, according to social, educational and ethnic backgrounds. A recent study from the Institute of Fiscal Studies indicated that BAME death rates due to Covid-19 have been above 2.5 times higher than other ethnic groups.”

The signatories include: Sonia Watson OBE, on behalf of the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust; Sarah Weir, Head of the UK Design Council: Prof. Jeremy Till, Head of Central St Martins and Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of the Arts; architect Alex de Rijke of Stirling Award-winners dRMM; TV Grand Designs co-presenter Kunle Barker: Co-Founder of 200-strong Black Females in Architecture Selasi Setufe; environmentalist Dr Tia Kansara as well as veteran former RIBA presidents Owen Luder CBE and Dr Rod Hackney.

Support

Calling on the prime minister for support in securing fairer outcomes and survival for SME+BAME design professionals and construction businesses, the group states that: “These firms are the life-blood of the economy, with an unparalleled ability to create wealth – providing jobs, education and training for many young people.

“Without proper safeguards, these companies which, in normal times, are often excluded by procurement processes will struggle even more to get onto tender lists and win publicly-funded contracts”

Owusu said: “The bounce-back and grant schemes helped many SME+BAME firms to survive the lockdown period. However, many have been left out and they and their families may be at risk.

“We will now work with the government and local authorities towards fair, inclusive and transparent public procurement, with all sharing equally in designing and constructing the greener, ecologically-balanced built environment, resilient against future pandemics.”