A SELECT committee chair said she was surprised that Burnley's community was still "ethnically separated".
The cross-party Communities and Local Government Select Committee will hold interviews with councillors, ethnic minority community representatives and residents at an "evidence session" today, and yesterday met members of Burnley and Pendle Interfaith Centre.
They chose to visit Burnley while preparing a government inquiry into community cohes-ion and migration, after the town was identified as having struggled to accommodate immigrants. Committee chairman and Labour MP for Milton Keynes South West Dr Phyllis Starkey said: "We were quite surprised to discover communities are still living quite separate lives, as they were when the riots occurred in 2001.
"A major problem with Burnley is that there are not enough jobs and a lot of poor housing and those things affect the whole community."
Council leader Gordon Birtwistle will speak to the committee today. He said: "We are delighted to see the committee taking an interest in Burnley."
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