Young Offender Institutions: Ethnic Groups

(asked on 20th November 2023) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to help (a) ensure that ethnic minority staff are recruited to work in the youth secure estate in similar proportions to the country as a whole and (b) increase retention of ethnic minority staff in the youth secure estate.


Answered by
Edward Argar Portrait
Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This question was answered on 28th November 2023

Following the Lammy Review, His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) made a public commitment that 14% of all new recruits will come from ethnic minority backgrounds. As of 30 June 2023, 19.2% of all Youth Custody Service staff who declared their ethnicity were from an ethnic minority background, up from 11.9% in 2010.

We are continuing to work towards increasing the recruitment of ethnic minority staff, so that their representation, including in senior leadership roles, matches that in the working population. Recruitment marketing is tailored to increase diversity in applications, targeting prisons where there is disparity between the Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic workforce population and the regional working population. This enhanced recruitment approach means we are exceeding the past-Lammy Review target in the youth secure estate.

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