David Lammy MP
The Lammy Review into the treatment of, and outcomes for, black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) individuals in the criminal justice system highlighted once again the significant race inequalities in our justice system. On 2nd November David Lammy spoke at Clinks AGM. This final blog in Clinks’ ‘After the Lammy Review’ series sums up what he said to Clinks’ members.
“Whilst carrying out my Review I was surprised and concerned by the indifference to race in our criminal justice system – in this respect it is hugely lagging behind other parts of our public sector and other nations. The people who staff our prisons, courts and even voluntary sector organisations working in criminal justice don’t reflect the people who receive their services. The picture of individuals working in the criminal justice system is a very different one you see from the people who live in it – particularly the picture you see when you go into our youth jails.
But let’s be clear, if you are in the criminal justice business in this country then you have got to be in the race business. There needs to be a step change to ensure that this issue does not fall off the table again.
Our criminal justice system can learn from other sectors, particularly education. Notwithstanding the poorer attainment of black boys there isn’t a school in London that doesn’t recognise and understand these issues. Practice might be patchy outside of diverse metropolitan areas but the recognition that we need to tackle this issue is deeply embedded within the educational establishment and across our schools. By contrast our criminal justice system is decades behind and this needs to change.
Our criminal justice system can also learn from other legal systems across the world. In New Zealand, for example, there is an established general principle that everything possible needs to be done to prevent BAME people getting a criminal record in the first place – and this is a bipartisan and accepted view across the political spectrum.
This recognition is vital because of what it means for a BAME person to end up in the criminal justice system. The double penalty of being from an ethnic minority background and having a criminal record can be hugely damaging for employment prospects and a third of those on Jobseeker’s Allowance have a criminal record. We need to tackle this across the piece but the latest stop and search figures show that we are moving in the wrong direction – whilst the use of stop and search has reduced, disproportionality has actually increased – you are now eight times more likely to be stopped and searched if you are BAME.
It is clear that the system is not working for any BAME group. We need a specific and culturally competent approach and a key part of the solution is a vibrant third sector. There is a need to grow and sustain the number of voluntary sector organisations with the confidence and ability to work with and meet the specific needs of cohorts such as Muslim women or Travellers. These groups are often small in number but high in need and experience high levels of disproportionality – for example, although the data does not exist I suspect from my work on the review that the greatest disproportionality in the system in fact involves the Traveller community.
In terms of legacy I am clear that I will remain on the scene to drive my recommendations forward. Significant work needs to be done to address sentencing disparities and a response is needed on this from the judiciary. The government has accepted my principle of explain or reform and we have succeeded in creating a cross party moment around these issues and the Labour Party as well as government are looking at my recommendations. In summary we have come a long way but there is still a lot of work to do.”
The following blog was originally published on Clinks Blogs by Jessica Mullen
The Lammy Review is an independent review into the treatment of, and outcomes for black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) individuals in the criminal justice system. Published last month, the significant race inequalities in our criminal justice system were once again highlighted.
Over the party conference season Clinks held two roundtable events at both Labour and Conservative Conferences, supported by Barrow Cadbury Fund, to discuss the Review’s findings and recommendations. This blog is the first in a series of blogs following on from those events. Each week an attendee at one of the roundtables will write about their reflections on the review and what they plan to do in response to it. Keep an eye out for future blogs from David Lammy MP, Kate Green MP, Shaun Bailey AM, and PCC Paddy Tipping amongst others.
What did we hear?
David Lammy MP spoke at both roundtable events. At the Labour conference he was joined by the Shadow Secretary of State for Justice Richard Burgon MP, and at the Conservative conference Sam Gymiah MP, Minister for Prisons and Probation. Members of Parliament, Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and voluntary sector organisations from across the country attended both meetings.
Discussion at both events was lively and interesting with real commitment across politicians and the voluntary sector to undertake action to finally redress racial disproportionality in the criminal justice system. Police and Crime Commissioners highlighted the role they can play in instigating local action.
What can the voluntary sector can do to support Lammy’s recommendations? Discussion of the importance of BAME organisations, which are rooted in the lived experience of the people they are working with, contrasted starkly with the finding from Clinks latest state of the sector survey which found that these organisations are 30% more likely to be at risk of closure. So the fact that the Review draws attention to probation supply chains failing to tap into the expertise of BAME voluntary sector organisations was welcomed.
There was also recognition from larger voluntary sector organisations around the table that they must also play their part in ensuring that government now acts on David Lammy’s recommendations and make sure they lead by example within their own work.
According to the Review data is not consistently collected across the system and David Lammy’s recommendations on this, as well as those aimed at ensuring that data is properly understood and acted upon, were welcomed.
Both events raised the glaring disproportionality in the youth justice system and the potential for diversion schemes such as deferred prosecution, currently being piloted in West Midlands and Durham, also highlighted by the Review.
Participants welcomed the Review’s recognition of the multifaceted nature of the BAME category and the specific needs of particular groups within it, such as Gypsy, Traveller and Roma people or people of Muslim faith. The Review’s exploration of how being from a BAME background and in contact with the criminal justice system intersects with other issues such as gender, complex needs and family links and support was also welcomed.
There was a strong feeling from participants that the Review’s recommendations be considered alongside other Ministry of Justice work including developing a female offenders strategy and responding to the Farmer Review into support for family links.
The Review’s focus on trust was welcomed, as was the need to remove the ‘us and them’ culture in the criminal justice system by improving the workforce diversity, alongside a call to ensure that all staff are ‘culturally competent’.
What next?
There is of course so much more in David Lammy’s Review, including his recommendations for the courts, prison system and criminal records regime. However, there was a real feeling in the room that this was just the beginning of the conversation.
David Lammy was clear that he is committed to this agenda for the long term. Local and national politicians from both sides of the political divide were keen to continue to engage, discuss and work with voluntary sector partners and others to take action to finally begin to address the poorer outcomes faced by BAME people in our criminal justice system.
Clinks looks forward to publishing the reflections of other attendees at the events over the coming weeks and to working with our members and policy makers, politicians and criminal justice agencies to identify action and good practice that can drive change and improve equality in our criminal justice system.
Read Clinks statement on its findings and recommendations here. A full briefing on the report will be available soon.
