Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Criminal Justice System: Racial Disparity

Tuesday 22 November 2022 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial strategy commits to tackling racial disparities in the criminal justice system.
  • Government implemented most actions from the Lammy review.
  • Over-representation of ethnic minority children in arrests noted.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Tan Dhesi Lab Slough
Crime & Law Enforcement Women & Equalities
Context

The question addresses racial disparities in the UK's criminal justice system, referencing the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report and the need for inclusive policies to address these issues.

Question

What steps he is taking to help tackle racial disparity in the criminal justice system. The Government's inclusive Britain strategy sets out a clear commitment to tackling race and ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system, but more needs to be done specifically with diversionary initiatives like out-of-court disposals for treatment or drug education courses.

Answer from Mike Freer

In response to the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, the Government's inclusive Britain strategy sets out a clear commitment to tackling race and ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system. We are reducing the number of individuals from ethnic minorities entering the criminal justice system by expanding the use of diversionary initiatives such as out-of-court disposals to divert towards treatment or drug education courses. For those in contact with the system, we are providing funding for grassroots ethnic minority-led and specialist voluntary sector organisations to provide rehabilitative services.

Answered
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Q2 Tan Dhesi Lab Slough
Crime & Law Enforcement Children & Families
Context

The question addresses the over-representation of black children in the criminal justice system, highlighting statistics from 2019 that show black children are over four times more likely to be arrested than white children. It references the Lammy review which exposed bias and discrimination in the system.

Question

Black children are over four times more likely to be arrested than white children as of 2019, with a deep-rooted cause leading to a cycle of criminality due to bias in our criminal justice system. The Lammy review exposed this bias and discrimination more than half a decade ago, so why have the Government still not implemented its recommendations in full?

Answer from Mike Freer

We have implemented the majority of the actions that we committed to in response to the Lammy review. The hon. Gentleman raises important points regarding the over-representation of ethnic minority children in the system. There is a range of activities, including work that we are doing in two test areas, to ensure that those people who are arrested have access to and can only opt out of legal representation, to try to ensure that the issues that he raised are addressed.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific question about why full implementation has not occurred was not directly answered with a timeline or explanation for delays.

How: We Have Implemented The Majority Of The Actions, There Is A Range Of Activities

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