The Roots Research Centre, in collaboration with the 1990 Trust, has produced a toolkit designed to help voluntary and community organisations, and others working with Black Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, use the Equality Act 2010 to challenge discrimination and promote equality. A briefing on key terms is also available.

Prior to the launch of a major new programme of work on the subject, the Joseph Ronwtree Foundation has produced two reports on poverty and ethnicity. ‘Poverty and Ethnicity: A review of evidence' summarises the results of scoping work on how poverty and ethnicity interact, whilst the Roots Research Centre's report ‘The Experience of Poverty and Ethnicity in London' compares the experiences of people from different ethnic backgrounds living in poverty.

According to research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, many families need to earn over 20% more than they did last year to achieve a minimum acceptable standard of living. Their annual up-date of the Minimum Income Standard takes into account changes in living costs and the tax and benefits system.

Ten final Enterprise Zones will be selected by the government later this summer out of proposals put forward by twenty nine Local Enterprise Partnerships. The ten areas selected will join eleven already announced in the Budget to benefit from simplified planning rules, super-fast broadband and tax breaks for businesses to promote growth.