UK watchdog urges ministers to address inequalities faced by Black and Asian people

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The UK’s equalities watchdog has urged ministers to tackle racial disparities experienced by ethnic minority communities, following previous criticism that it has failed Black people.

As the nation has been engulfed in widespread race riots, a new report published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) points out serious inequalities in areas including criminal justice, employment, housing and mental health.

The study highlights Black children made up 26 per cent of the youth custody population in 2023 compared to just 6 per cent of the general population aged 10 to 17, as indicated by the government’s own youth justice statistics.

Moreover, Black offenders and those of mixed ethnicity were also more likely to receive a custodial sentence compared to white offenders between 2018 and 2022.

Baroness Kishwer Falkner, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission said: “Everyone should enjoy their human rights, regardless of their race.

“Our latest submission to the UN highlights the extent to which some people from ethnic minority groups fare worse than others. We found particularly significant disparities experienced by Gypsies, Roma and Travellers, Black, Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic groups in relation to their living standards, employment and health outcomes, and experiences of the criminal justice system.

“We urge the UK and Welsh governments to closely look at our report and action our recommendations, to support the achievement of racial equality in Britain.”

Other reports by the EHRC, Equality and Human Rights Monitor and Is Wales Fairer, both published in 2023, found people from Black, Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic groups face the highest unemployment rates in Britain. This is borne out by recent data.

Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest that Black and Asian workers are more likely to be unemployed than white workers.

Some ethnic groups are also paid less than white British workers on average. Pakistani and Bangladeshi workers have the largest pay gap when compared with white British workers, according to the EHRC.

In England and Wales, the highest levels of overcrowding were in households headed by an individual from an ethnic minority group in 2021.

Households headed by a person from the Bangladeshi ethnic group had the highest level of overcrowding (28.7 per cent in England, 17.2 per cent in Wales) compared with all households (4.4 per cent in England and 2.2 per cent in Wales).

Black people in England were three-and-a-half times more likely than white people to be detained under the Mental Health Act in 2022 to 2023.

In its report, the EHRC makes recommendations to the UK and Welsh governments to help address these issues, including commissioning independent research to better understand how experiences of insecure work differ by race and ethnicity.

A further suggestion is that ministers should ensure regular and robust data is collected by public institutions to improve understanding of racial disparities in mental health services.

In last month’s King’s Speech which outlines policy plans, the new Labour government committed to introduce a bill to modernise the Mental Health Act this year. However, there was no mention of dealing with racial disparities within the sector.

This is not the first time the government has been urged to address racism and inequalities.

For example, a damning report by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights (2020) laid bare the racial inequalities that blight the lives of Black people across health, criminal justice, immigration and democracy.

Entitled Black People, Racism and Human Rights, the 45-page document was published in the wake of international anti-racism demonstrations and revealed more than 75 per cent of Black people do not believe their human rights are equally protected compared to white people.

The report also took aim at the EHRC, concluding the government-funded watchdog has failed to protect Black people and doesn’t have a diverse leadership team.

Page 4 of the committee’s report reads: “We find that the EHRC has been unable to adequately provide leadership and gain trust in tackling racial inequality in the protection and promotion of human rights.

“For the EHRC to be, and be seen to be, effective Black people must be represented at the top level of the organisation, including as commissioners.

“The Commission needs adequate resources. And its enforcement powers must be strengthened to enable it to undertake investigations where it is suspected that an organisation has breached the Human Rights Act 1998 and provide legal assistance to individuals in Human Rights Act cases.”

Around this time, the EHRC was criticised for appointing controversial figure David Goodhart as a new commissioner.

Mr Goodhart previously slammed complaints of racism in the UK as “statistically naive” and supported the hostile environment policies which led to the Windrush scandal.

A spokesperson from the EHRC said: “We have a strong track record of using our unique legal powers to defend people’s rights and make Britain fairer and more equal.

“The Joint Committee on Human Rights report predates the current makeup of the board, and was made before the current Chair, Baroness Falkner, took on her leadership role at the EHRC.

“A significant part of our remit involves challenging race discrimination through the courts and by supporting landmark legal cases that are likely to have widespread impact. We launched a Race Legal Support Fund to help employees take action against organisations that may have broken equality law. This scheme has consistently achieved success.

“We have the most diverse Board in EHRCs’ short history, comprising leading specialist lawyers in equality and human rights law, individuals with a background in civil society, media, public policy and trade unions.”

The UK and Welsh governments have been approached for comment.