Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether HM Prison Service has a target for the number of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff to be in leadership positions within that organisation.

The Cabinet Office has recently published the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and specific government-wide targets for senior minority ethnic staff are no longer set. HMPPS currently has a national target for 14% of its workforce to be from an ethnic minority background in accordance with the 2011 Census, but this target is not specific to the senior civil service.

In January 2022, the Ministry of Justice launched the senior civil servant (SCS) Talent Agency. The aim of the Talent Agency is to develop a diverse SCS talent pipeline by supporting upwards progression and assisting with the retention of high potential senior leaders who identify as ethnically diverse, or as having a disability. This includes the Luminate sponsorship programme which encourages and recognises talented ethnic minority staff and aims to increase ethnic minority representation in SCS roles in MoJ.