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Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities
17 March 2022
Lead MP
Kemi Badenoch
Debate Type
Ministerial Statement
Tags
NHSEducationTaxationEmploymentForeign AffairsWomen & EqualitiesParliamentary ProcedureStandards & EthicsChildren & Families
Other Contributors: 26
At a Glance
Kemi Badenoch raised concerns about commission on race and ethnic disparities in the House of Commons. A government minister responded. Other MPs also contributed.
How the Debate Unfolded
MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said:
Government Statement
NHSEducationTaxationEmploymentForeign AffairsWomen & EqualitiesParliamentary ProcedureStandards & EthicsChildren & Families
Government Statement
With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to make a statement on our work to tackle ethnic disparities and build a fairer, more inclusive Britain. The Government published their response today to the Sewell Commission report on race and ethnic disparities, outlining over 70 actions in an 'Inclusive Britain' action plan that focuses on health, education, crime and policing, employment, and media reporting. The plan aims to tackle entrenched disparities through building a stronger sense of trust and fairness in institutions, promoting equality of opportunity, and fostering personal agency and a sense of belonging. Actions include addressing race discrimination, strengthening scrutiny arrangements for police stop-and-search powers, tackling health outcome disparities, enhancing education standards, investing in early years support programmes (£200 million for supporting families programme and £300 million for start-for-life services), improving transparency in higher education, promoting fair workplaces through an 'inclusion at work' panel and a new 'inclusion confident' scheme. The minister acknowledged the need to move beyond unverified training materials towards creating more meritocratic places of work.
Paul Blomfield
Lab
Sheffield Central
Question
The MP questioned whether the minister's response adequately addressed structural racism and criticised the strategy for not mandating ethnicity pay gap reporting. He also inquired about the government's plans to address issues like Child Q’s case involving police racial profiling.
Minister reply
The Minister responded that the Government does not recognise structural racism as a concept and emphasised their focus on evidence-based solutions rather than ideological frameworks. She highlighted actions taken such as strengthening scrutiny of stop-and-search practices, tackling health disparities through the new Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, and promoting equality in employment through guidance on ethnicity pay gaps.
Luke Pollard
Lab
Plymouth, Sockurn Peninsula
Question
Asked about specific measures to address police racism following recent incidents involving black children and racial profiling.
Minister reply
The Minister stated that strengthening scrutiny arrangements for stop-and-search practices would help improve accountability. She also noted the importance of ensuring that police forces better reflect the communities they serve.
Dawn Butler
Lab
West Ham
Question
Inquired about measures to ensure fair treatment in health services and prevent racial profiling by medical staff.
Minister reply
The Minister highlighted efforts such as establishing an Office for Health Improvement and Disparities to address disparities in healthcare access and outcomes. She also mentioned the need for responsible reporting on race issues in media.
Chris Bryant
Lab
Rhondda
Question
Asked about plans to tackle discrimination in recruitment practices and ensure fair treatment of minority groups.
Minister reply
The Minister responded with details about initiatives aimed at promoting fairness in the workplace, including an 'inclusion at work' panel and a new 'inclusion confident' scheme to provide employers with tools for overcoming barriers to progression.
Taiwo Owatemi
Lab
Coventry North West
Question
I thank the Minister for advance sight of her statement. I will be honest with the House: I was beginning to think that today’s statement would never come.
Minister reply
I thank the hon. Lady for her questions. I have a lot of time for her personally, but the fact is that Labour Members cannot bring themselves to acknowledge that this is an ambitious strategy.
John Hayes
Con
South Holland and The Deepings
Question
I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests relating to higher education. In accepting my congratulations on her robust counter to the small minds who have criticised the Sewell report—small minds that cannot tell the difference between disadvantage, disparity and discrimination—will the Minister ensure that every Government Department effects what she has said today and what the report proposes?
Minister reply
My right hon. Friend is right to make the point about distinctions in language. Discrimination, disparity and disadvantage all mean different things.
Question
Only by acknowledging and understanding institutional inequalities will we be able to effectively tackle them in all aspects of life.
Minister reply
We have made an action on ethnicity pay gap reporting in the report, and we will be issuing guidance to help businesses and organisations to deliver it. What we are not going to do is mandate ethnicity pay gap reporting.
Question
I strongly welcome the report because it will ensure that everyone, from whatever background, can climb the important ladder of opportunity.
Minister reply
My right hon. Friend is right. I have seen his Select Committee’s report, and those are things we will be working on.
Diane Abbott
Ind
Hackney North and Stoke Newington
Question
The right hon. Lady raises concerns about strip-searching black schoolgirls, citing Metropolitan police figures showing a disproportionate number of young people under 18 who were strip-searched being from ethnic minorities. She questions the Minister's stance on whether these incidents are racially motivated and seeks assurances that the Government will take notice of any report findings and prevent future mistreatment.
Minister reply
The Home Secretary wrote to her shadow, saying that the incident is deeply concerning. There are safeguards in place for strip-searching, but the specific instance is under investigation. The figures provided are startling and the Minister commits to investigating trends in such incidents.
Question
Aylesbury is a diverse community and it is all the better for it. Does my hon. Friend agree that today the Government have ushered in a new way to think about race and, more importantly, a new way to act about race, shifting from ideology to evidence and from destructive discourse to constructive action?
Minister reply
The Minister affirms this is a new approach which considers issues holistically, listens to suggestions from across the country, ensures actions are based on evidence rather than assuming all disparities stem from discrimination. The aim is to improve institutions without damaging them.
Clapham and Brixton Hill
Question
The hon. Member believes the Minister's statement about institutional racism is smoke and mirrors, given that contributors to the report rejected the idea of no evidence of institutional racism as false.
Minister reply
The Minister disagrees, stating she knows black, Asian and ethnic minority communities will be pleased with the plan. She emphasises actions have been taken over the past 12 years and plans are being implemented regardless of Labour's stance.
Question
My hon. Friend’s comprehensive plan to tackle disparities is praised, especially regarding a model history curriculum which explains Britain’s story comprehensively.
Minister reply
The Minister confirms the Government remains committed to a fairer Britain for all and mentions that one history module cannot go into depth on 'black' history as it cuts across various significant ethnic groups.
Christine Jardine
Lib Dem
Edinburgh West
Question
Will the Minister assure us that the action plan will address the disproportionate impact of covid on many ethnic communities and include it in the covid inquiry?
Minister reply
The Minister assures that findings on covid disparities have been part of evidence for the commission, built upon when writing the action plan. She suggests writing to her for more information.
Jerome Mayhew
Con
Broadland and Fakenham
Question
Surely we want Government strategy to be based on evidence, not ideology. Does my hon. Friend agree that a narrative of majority discrimination causing minority discrimination is divisive?
Minister reply
The Minister agrees and emphasises the demoralising effect of such rhetoric on young ethnic minority children.
Battersea
Question
The shadow questions why RDU will consult on reducing levels of race and ethnicity data, suggesting it is important to know the reason behind this move.
Minister reply
The Minister clarifies that they are improving and increasing data collection. She suggests writing for further explanation.
Peter Gibson
Con
Darlington
Question
I know that my hon. Friend is 100% committed to implementing the commission’s recommendations. Does she agree with me that it is our Conservative belief that background should not determine destiny and promoting fairness is the key to truly delivering real social mobility? As we level up in places such as Darlington, can she comment on how “Inclusive Britain” is key to our ambitious levelling-up plans?
Minister reply
Yes, that is absolutely right. When constructing the actions in the report, our three pillars were building trust and fairness—fairness was right at the heart—creating agency and opportunity, and inclusion. Those actions will benefit everyone across the country, including people in Darlington. We are focusing more on inclusion than on diversity, because we believe that inclusion brings in more factors, such as socioeconomic factors, that tend to be forgotten.
Stephen Timms
Lab
East Ham
Question
Soon after the pandemic began, the Prime Minister said: “people who have worked hard for this country, who live and work here should have support of one kind or another”. The no recourse to public funds condition meant that many got no support at all. The Select Committee on Work and Pensions has heard harrowing testimony of the hardship that resulted. Will the action plan that the Minister has announced review no recourse to public funds, which has driven ethnic disparity?
Minister reply
No, the action plan will not be looking at that. No recourse to public funds was outside the terms of reference for the commission, and the action plan is very much based within those terms of reference.
Kim Johnson
Lab
Liverpool Riverside
Question
The highly discredited Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report stated that Britain “no longer” had a system that was “deliberately rigged” against black people, but as the first black MP for Liverpool, I would beg to differ. I have little faith that the “Inclusive Britain” report with its 70 practical actions will change how police powers work. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will give more power to the police to stop and search, and it will not stop them from strip-searching young girls. Can the Minister explain in detail how local scrutiny will prevent that from happening?
Minister reply
I will continue to rebut the assertion that the report is widely discredited; it was discredited only in certain quarters... The commission put forward a recommendation that we will be trialling and piloting.
Diana R. Johnson
Lab
Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham
Question
I am disappointed that there is not a Home Office Minister on the Treasury Bench. The Select Committee on Home Affairs report, “The Macpherson Report: twenty-one years on”, was published last summer and we have been waiting for a substantive reply to our recommendations ever since; the Government said that they wanted to deal with their response to the commission. Now that the Minister has made this statement, can she confirm that the Government will respond to our call, first for urgent action on racial disparities in law enforcement? She referred to stop and search, but it is not enough to do something just about scrutiny, as she announced in her statement. Secondly, will the Government tackle the worrying decline in confidence in the police among some ethnic minority communities? Thirdly, will they deal with the need for anti-racism training in the police, especially in the light of the horrific case of child Q, where race played a part in her treatment?
Minister reply
The right hon. Lady is right that there are actions on stop and search in criminal justice, but we are doing many different things, including improving skills training for police officers.
Janet Daby
Lab
Lewisham East
Question
In the light of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, I put on record my dismay and sorrow that Child Q experienced being stripped of her clothes and searched at her school by police officers. I thank the Minister for mentioning Child Q, but is she aware that she was on her menstrual cycle, which made the experience even more undignified? This morning I was shocked to hear that she was taken out of an exam by teachers and, following her ordeal, it was considered appropriate by all professionals concerned for her to return to her exam, with no consideration for her emotional wellbeing. That is one of the cruellest and most despicable things I have ever heard.
Minister reply
We are all appalled at the details that we are hearing about Child Q. As I said before, I cannot comment until a full inquiry has come out, but it is important to understand what led to the failures.
Question
I have listened with great interest right from the start of the statement and to all of the questions, and two things strike me. Racism is totally abhorrent and I can completely understand why Members, especially Opposition Members, are absolutely fuming that it is not completely exterminated from our society, but I say as a scientist that we have to fix that problem via evidence and ensure that we are helping the people whom we seek to help. Does my hon. Friend accept that the evidence in the report and delivering on it is the most important thing to stamp out the evil of racism in this society?
Minister reply
I can assure my hon. Friend that that is the case. The evidence and looking underneath it at the details of what is happening is important; otherwise, how can we tell when looking at something negative that has happened to someone from an ethnic minority whether that is racism or not?
Question
I am astonished that the Minister does not think that there is evidence of racial disparity in this country. She made the point that a strong early start makes all the difference. When the Government smashed up Sure Start, that made a demonstrable difference to black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, and, yes, to the deprived white communities in Britain. She is talking about putting £500 million back. Can she go back to the Treasury and say that that is totally inadequate if we are going to make a real difference? Can she go and tell the Treasury that if we want to make a difference, real money can do that?
Minister reply
The hon. Gentleman is putting words into my mouth that I did not say and that the commission did not say. It is not true to say that we have not found any evidence for racism or racial disparity in this country.
Florence Eshalomi
Lab Co-op
Vauxhall and Camberwell Green
Question
In her statement, the Minister acknowledged that ensuring fair treatment for individuals is key to building trust. However, Florence points out that black and minority ethnic children feel discriminated against due to issues such as stop and search practices, raids on community centres, and incidents like Child Q's case. She invites the Minister to Lambeth to speak with young people from her constituency about their experiences of mistrust towards police and asks why measures for scrutiny of police powers cannot be brought forward.
Minister reply
The Minister acknowledges the importance of addressing the trust deficit but emphasises that the Government is taking steps to ensure fair treatment when actions like stop and search occur. She expresses willingness to visit Lambeth and explain the policies aimed at improving community-police relations, noting her personal connection to the area.
Helen Hayes
Lab
Dulwich and West Norwood
Question
Helen is astonished by the lack of focus on policing in the Minister’s statement. She highlights racial disparity in policing actions such as stop and search, deaths in custody, and incidents like Child Q's case, questioning what specific measures are being taken to address this issue.
Minister reply
The Minister responds by stressing that the UK's situation differs from the US. While acknowledging concerns about racism and racial disparities, she points out that the report is based on evidence from the UK rather than assumptions from other countries. She asserts that stop and search remains a necessary tool in combating knife and gun crime, as indicated by statistics in the report.
Layla Moran
Lib Dem
Oxford West and Abingdon
Question
Referencing the Sewell report, Layla raises Troy Deeney's campaign #HistoryUntold which seeks to mandate a history curriculum that reflects diverse backgrounds. She inquires about discussions with the Department for Education regarding this initiative.
Minister reply
The Minister indicates support for a model history curriculum developed alongside the Department for Education, aiming to reflect the diversity of UK society through tailored teaching methods rather than broad categories such as BAME.
Shadow Comment
Taiwo Owatemi
Shadow Comment
The shadow response criticised the Government's delayed and inadequate strategy, 'Inclusive Britain', which accepts the controversial premise that structural racism does not exist in British society. The Labour Party argues this is a flawed approach as it fails to acknowledge the root causes of racial disparities. Taiwo Owatemi highlighted failures of the strategy concerning NHS workers, black children living in poverty, and cases like Child Q involving racial profiling by police. Additionally, Labour criticised insufficient action on mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting despite calls for its implementation and systematic decimation of Sure Start services during Conservative rule. The Labour Party committed to a race equality act upon taking power, addressing structural issues causing inequality.
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