Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of racial disproportionality in prisons.

Racial and ethnic disparities are closely monitored across the justice system, and we continue to develop a wider, and deeper, range of factors that we monitor. The data, including analysis of relative differences between groups, helps give a detailed picture of where over-representation and disproportionality may be occurring. A comprehensive statistical assessment of these issues from across the system, including in prisons, can be found in Ethnicity and the Criminal Justice system.

We are committed to understanding and tackling disparities that emerge in the outcomes for, and treatment of, ethnic minorities in prison. This is why in December 2020 we launched the Race Action Programme, which is focused on creating long-term change through increasing the diversity of our workforce, addressing the risk of bias in our policies, and their implementation to tackle disparity in outcomes for ethnic minorities throughout the prison and probation service.

However, last week’s thematic report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons is a sobering read and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service will announce details early next year on the wide-ranging action we will deliver to bring about necessary changes.