Bradford's black and Asian elderly community are to be asked what can be done to improve services for them as part of a major national consultation exercise.

Yesterday saw the launch of the Debate of the Age and Ethnic Minorities conference London, which included a Bradford representative to be announced today.

The scheme has been welcomed by Bradford's Racial Equality Council and is being backed by Prime Minster Tony Blair.

It aims to listen to the concerns of the ethnic minority to address key issues ranging from accommodation to health care and explore the impact of the ageing society.

The results will be published to the government in the year 2000.

And members from public, private and voluntary sectors will be involved in shaping up the priorities for the new Millennium.

Director of the Commission of Racial Equality, Ishtiaq Ahmed, is supporting the debate.

But he said these issues needed to be fully addressed at a local level.

He said: "Still as we approach the year 2000 we are in the unfortunate position that more needs to be done to help black and Asian people in terms of health and housing."

He added that unfortunately racism is still rife in certain institutions and this section of the community were at times left to deal with inadequate accommodation and care.

He said: "Still black and Asian people are treated as if they are at the bottom of the ladder. We have to ask why?"

Mr Ahmed said it was extremely important to ask the community what it wanted for the Millennium and in terms of the celebration.

"Unfortunately, black and Asian people are normally asked to be involved as an afterthought as opposed to being involved from the very beginning. But this conference is the way forward," he added.

Sally Greengross, executive chairman of the Debate of the Age, said: "We must ensure that all communities are prepared for the challenge and benefits that an ageing society can bring so that Britain in the new Millennium is as inclusive as it is diverse."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.