Prime Minister Theresa May has launched an unprecedented audit of public services to reveal racial disparities and help end the burning injustices many people experience across Britain.
The PM has ordered Whitehall departments to identify and publish information showing how outcomes differ for people of different backgrounds, in a range of areas including health, education and employment.
Not only will it give every person the ability to check how their race affects the way they are treated by public services, the transparent information will help government and the public to force poor-performing services to improve.
The Prime Minister said: “When I stood on the steps of Downing Street on my first day, I made clear that I believe in a United Kingdom by every definition - and that means the government I lead will stand up for you and your family against injustice and inequality.
“Today, I am launching an audit to look into racial disparities in our public services that stretches right across government. It will highlight the differences in outcomes for people of different backgrounds, in every area from health to education, childcare to welfare, employment, skills and criminal justice.
“This audit will reveal difficult truths, but we should not be apologetic about shining a light on injustices as never before. It is only by doing so we can make this country work for everyone, not just a privileged few.”
Latest figures from the Equality and Human Rights Commission show large disparities between how people are treated depending on their race:
- if you are from a Black Caribbean background, you are three times more likely to be permanently excluded from school than your peers;
- if you are a black woman, you are seven times more likely to be detained under mental health legislation than a white woman;
- the employment rate for ethnic minorities is 10 percentage points lower than the national average;
- People in ethnic minority households are almost twice as likely to live in relative poverty as white people – but it is not just those from minority backgrounds who are affected, with white working class boys less likely to go to university than any other group.
Yet this type of information is not systematically captured by public services or published transparently for the benefit of the public or the government. Only in a few areas has government collected such information specifically for the purpose of revealing racial disparity, and very rarely is it published in an open and accessible way.
This audit will also help understand where there are geographical inequalities in services that affect people of some races more than others, such as the white working class who tend to live in coastal towns or BME communities who tend to live in inner cities.
As Home Secretary, the Prime Minister published stop and search data that revealed people from black and ethnic minority communities were seven times more likely to be stopped and searched than their white counterparts. The publication helped hold forces to account and the ratio has now reduced to four times more likely, with the aim for a continued fall.
The audit will be led by a new dedicated Whitehall unit situated in the Cabinet Office, reporting jointly to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid, and the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Ben Gummer. The first data is expected to be published before the summer 2017 and will be updated annually to ensure the public can track improvement and better hold services to account.
EHRC Chair David Isaac said: "There is no place for racism and hatred in a modern Britain and we share the UN’s serious concerns about the recent spike in race hate incidents. In the weeks before and after the Brexit vote we saw reports of race hate incidents rise significantly. We support the UN’s recommendations for effective investigation and prosecution of all acts of racist hate crime and wide-ranging action better to deter and punish perpetrators.”
“There are concerns that the acrimonious and divisive manner in which the referendum debate was conducted exacerbated worrying divisions in British society, and has been used by a minority to legitimise race hate. The recommendation that the UK should adopt comprehensive measures to combat racist hate speech and xenophobic political discourse is therefore a welcome one. Political parties need to come together and show leadership, working with the relevant crime prevention agencies.
“We also welcome the UN’s recommendations to tackle race inequality in areas such as health, education, employment and criminal justice, following our comprehensive report on this issue last week."
Show Racism the Red Card
Top former footballers including Les Ferdinand MBE and Paul Elliot MBE will be among those coming together on 9th September, to promote the 20th anniversary of the sport’s very own campaign to combat racism. They will be joined by Unite general secretary Len McCluskey.
The Show Racism the Red card (SRTRC) campaign was formed in 1996 to use footballing role models to enlist young people in anti-racism drives. Previous stars on the SRTRC team sheet include Thierry Henry, Ryan Giggs and Samuel Eto’o.
Ahead of the event, Ged Grebby, chief executive of the campaign, said: “The fight against racism can never rest, especially now when, worryingly, hate crimes are on the rise.
“Football is such an important part of so many people’s lives that it is only right that we use this power of this tremendous sport to bring people together, to show that we really do have more in common than divides us.
“We are extremely proud to be marking our 20th anniversary with our friends in football, including lifelong anti-racism campaigners like Paul and Les. With them on our side we will make this year’s Wear it Red day one to remember for sure.”
Show Racism the Red Card is an anti-racism educational charity which works extensively across Britain to present an anti-racist message to young people and others. In Scotland and Wales, the campaign also focuses on tackling racism within professional and grass-roots football.
