The insensitive treatment of minorities by some front-line staff and a failure to consult with disadvantaged groups could be undermining Sutton Council's good intentions on delivering equality in the borough.

That was the verdict of watchdog the Audit Commission, following an across-the-board inspection of the council's delivery of equality across its range of services.

It awarded the council one star out of a possible three, but said the authority was likely to improve in this area.

Amid much good work, the commission found startling instances of insensitivity from front-line staff in its interviews with service users from disadvantaged groups. It heard of a number of instances in which alleged victims of racial harassment were told to prove they had been abused in direct contravention of the recommendations of the McPherson enquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence.

This stipulated a racist incident was defined subjectively, by its alleged victim or a third party. A number of domestic violence victims said they had not received a sympathetic response from council staff and one was reportedly asked: "What do you want me to do about it?"

The commission also found instances where the notion of equality of opportunity had been misunderstood by staff, most notably when a traveller family was evicted from their temporary property after failing to respond to two written offers of accommodation. It transpired none of the family could read.

The watchdog also felt the council did not do enough to consult with the hardest to reach vulnerable groups, most notably travellers, asylum seekers and refugees. For instance, its MORI poll did not attempt to discover the satisfaction levels of these groups with council services.

But the watchdog was impressed by the council's array of equalities policies, and its attempt, through the MORI polls, to assess satisfaction levels by across ethnic, gender and age groups.

Lead inspector Andrew Templeman said: "It is clear key councillors and chief officers are committed to ensuring Sutton's residents in different parts of the community have access to the services."

The commission's inspection was in response to the council's own themed best value review of how it meets the needs of disadvantaged groups across the borough.

A council spokesman said: "Sutton is fully committed to improving equalities throughout its services. We have a complaints system and would encourage anyone who has a grievance to report their concerns to us as we are keen to improve the system."

December 7, 2001 16:20