Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to tackle racial disproportionality in the criminal justice system.

Everyone has a right to be confident that the justice system is there to protect them. We are committed to identifying and addressing these disparities wherever we find them.

Our commitment to tackling race and ethnic disparity is clear, as set out in the Government’s Inclusive Britain strategy, published in March 2022. This strategy was in response to the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities and identifies clear actions for criminal justice agencies to undertake. These actions include work to reduce the numbers of people from ethnic minority backgrounds entering the criminal justice system. For example by expanding the use of diversionary initiatives, such as Out of Court Disposals to divert towards treatment or drug education courses to address the root causes of their offending behaviour. We are also working to improve outcomes for those already in the system, by providing funding for grassroots, ethnic-minority led and specialist voluntary sector organisations to provide rehabilitative services in order to reduce reoffending rates and improve education and employment opportunities. Finally, we are improving judicial diversity through providing additional support to potentially eligible candidates, as part of the Judicial Diversity Forum action plan.