DENHAM - GOVERNMENT IS
COMMITTED TO TACKLING INEQUALITY AND DISADVANTAGE WHEREVER IT EXISTS
Communities
Secretary John Denham today re-affirmed the Governments steadfast
commitment to tackling race inequality and set out plans to build
on the significant achievements by pledging to tackle inequality
wherever it exists.
John Denham has today published Tackling Race Inequality: A
Statement on Race. This document details the consistent progress
that has been made to tackle racism and secure race equality in
recent years, highlights the remaining challenges and the need to
broaden the focus of equalities work to respond to new and
emerging issues.
Over the past decade, the Government has worked tirelessly to
build a fairer, more equal society. A society where a person’s
chances and opportunities in life are determined solely by their
talent and effort – not by their class, gender, religion,
sexuality or their race.
The Macpherson Report in 1999 was a wake-up call for all public
services. The Race Relations Amendment Act that followed in 2000
extended the laws against discrimination meaning that over 43,000
public bodies were charged with promoting race equality. This has
led to a more representative police force and a halving of
racially motivated incidents since 1995. In addition, in schools,
there has been a 20 per cent increase in the number of pupils of
black Caribbean heritage gaining five good GCSEs.
These measures have transformed the way public services serve BME
communities, no longer simply passively addressing individual
racist incidents but actively promoting racial equality and better
race relations.
Across Government, efforts to raise incomes, reduce poverty and
promote inequality – whether through the minimum wage, Sure Start
or housing – has made a real difference to the lives of the most
disadvantaged, including those from BME communities.
However, there is still much to do. There are still areas of
concern, especially in school exclusions and stop and search.
Alongside these old challenges there are new and emerging trends
affecting White and BME people There is a growing Black and Asian
middle class – they are now coming up against the old problems in
new settings. Research shows that people whose surname suggests
they are from a BME background find it harder to get an interview
when applying for a job. In education we know that Chinese and
Indian students in particular do better than the average in
schools whilst White working class boys appear to be lagging
behind.
Migration, the growing importance of community cohesion, and a
better understanding of the way in which race interacts with class
and other factors have all changed the terms of the debate and
made promoting race equality a much more complex challenge.
Tackling racism will only be effectively achieved if all forms of
discrimination, prejudice and inequality are tackled.
Mr Denham today pledged to redouble efforts to promote greater
equality for all, and combine that with action to target the
specific problems faced by particular groups. He stressed the need
to do this in ways which are fair, seen to be fair, and in a way
that will ensure no group is neglected or overlooked
The new document details how Government will build on the
remarkable achievements of the past ten years setting out a
threefold approach to tackling what is now a more complex
challenge:
Enforcing the strong legal framework – The new Equality Bill will
modernise, streamline and strengthen the existing legislative
framework, helping people to understand their rights and further
reduce inequality and discrimination.
The Bill acknowledges the wider context in which race inequality
must now be tackled. Instead of addressing the needs of different
groups separately, it will require all public services to offer a
decent service to everyone - regardless. And it will mean more of
a focus on outcomes - not processes. For the first time, public
bodies will have to take class into account and consider what
action they can take to tackle entrenched socio-economic
disadvantage.
Leadership – Communities and Local Government will work with
those charged with inspecting public bodies to make sure that
services are complying with their duties and obligations. CLG will
continue to challenge other Government Departments and public
bodies to promote race equality in everything they do.
Targeted work – where certain groups face specific challenges
targeted work is needed in response. The REACH role modelling
programme is addressing low achievement and low aspirations
amongst young black boys, works is going on in schools to improve
poor white boys progress and help particular groups overcome
specific challenges, where needed.
John Denham said:
“The Government has an absolute commitment to eradicating racism
and promoting race equality. And that work will not stop until
every single person in this country has the same opportunities and
an equal chance of success.
“Sustained action over the last ten years has promoted racial
equality and better race relations, dismantled unfair barriers
faced by many and helped to nurture a society more comfortable
with diversity than ever before.
“New trends are emerging linked to the way that race and class
together shape people’s lives and this makes the situation much
more complex. That does not mean that we should reduce our efforts
to tackle racism and promote race equality but we must avoid a one
dimensional debate that assumes all minority ethnic people are
disadvantaged. The landscape has changed and we have to make sure
that our efforts are tackling problems of today and not those of
the past.
“We are committed to tackling inequality and disadvantage
wherever it exists. If the cause is racism and discrimination we
will challenge racism and discrimination. If the cause of
disadvantage is social class, we will promote opportunity. And if
the cause is a combination of racism and social class we will
tackle both together.
“We are working towards building a society where regardless of
class, race, beliefs or anything else: in every community, in
every corner of the country – we are on people’s side. No favours.
No privileges. No special interest groups. Just fairness.”
Tackling Race Inequality: A Statement on Race details a wide
range of measures that Government has and will put in place to
deliver on this crucial agenda. This includes:
• Communities and Local Government will support the Equality and
Human Rights Commission as it develops guidance on implementing
the Equality Bill and intervenes in legal cases which will advance
equality.
• Through effective inspection of public services
public bodies will be held to greater account on delivering
against their responsibilities. Progress has already been made on
this area with Ofsted now rating schools as inadequate if they do
not fulfil requirements on equality.
• The DCSF now has rules
requiring Local Authorities to set targets to raise attainment
amongst underperforming groups.
• The Government Equalities
Office has today launched a new ambassadors network -180
individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds who currently hold
a range of public appointments, such as membership of NHS trusts
and boards of public bodies, who will be encouraging people from
under-represented groups to consider applying for public
appointments.
• Earlier this year the CLG made £8.8m available
through the Tackling Race Inequality Fund (TRIF). This funding is
supporting 27 national and regional Third Sector Organisations to
tackle inequalities faced by a range of minority ethnic groups.
Organisations funded include Operation Black Vote, Age UK, The
National Black Boys Can Association and Show Racism the Red Card
Notes to Editors
This press notice applies to England Only
1. Tackling Race Inequality: A Statement on Race can be found at
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/tacklingraceinequalitystatement
2. The Race Relations Amendment Act followed the publication of
the Macpherson Report and was seen to be a watershed moment. It
not only extended the laws against discrimination, but also
charged over 43,000 public bodies with positively promoting race
equality and better race relations. It has meant a sea-change in
the way that public services work. It has introduced a proactive
approach to meeting the needs of all communities, to understanding
how different communities are affected by different policies and
put in place measures which can prevent adverse impacts and
promote equality and to monitor outcomes.
3. Changes within the police force have, perhaps, been the most
striking. Macpherson found a service which was overwhelmingly
white, lacking in cultural awareness and sensitivity, and did not
take racist incidents seriously. To raise awareness of the issues
and ensure the police are properly serving minority communities,
Government set targets for representation, recruitment and
progression for minority ethnic officers, changing the way that
police officers are trained, how racist incidents are defined and
making the recording of Stop and Search more transparent. As a
result, the number of police officers from minority ethnic
backgrounds has doubled. The number of racially motivated
incidents estimated from the British Crime Survey has more than
halved since 1995. There are hundreds of specialist hate crime
officers working in the Met Police and detection rates for hate
crime have doubled.
4. In schools, Government's major worry was the
considerable gap between pupils of Pakistani, Bangladeshi, African
and Caribbean heritage and their white peers. Government required
all schools to have a race equality programme, focused resources
and efforts on raising attainment through projects like the Aiming
High Strategy and the Black Pupils Achievement Strategy. The
results are paying off, with the number of pupils of black
Caribbean heritage getting five good GCSEs increasing by more than
twenty percentage points. The gap between pupils of Bangladeshi
heritage and their peers has been virtually eliminated. Government
is now building on this, by enabling councils to set targets for
different groups' attainment.
5. In employment, ten years ago, the concern was both the
disparity in employment rates - and the fact that the gap had
stuck at around 19 per cent for around a decade. A review from the
Prime Minister's Strategy Unit concentrated attention on
the issues and led to the setting up of the Ethnic Minority Task
Force. Government has championed the business case for equality,
stressing the benefits and importance of a diverse workforce which
reflects society. Government has also set up projects such as
Ethnic Minority Outreach which helps thousands of people to
prepare for work and find jobs.
6. Communities and Local Government has established a national
Black role modelling programme. This was one of the
recommendations made by the REACH group in their report An
Independent Report to Government on Raising the Aspirations and
Attainment of Black Boys and Young Black Men which can be viewed
at www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/reachreport.
The REACH group was set up by Government in 2006 and had 22
members drawn from a variety of sectors, including the voluntary
and community sector, education academia and law enforcement.
7. Communities and Local Government will also hold two feedback
conferences in the early Spring 2010 to update people who fed into
the consultation on how we have responded.
Contacts:
Communities and Local Government Press Office
Phone: 0303 44 41137
press.office@communities.gsi.gov.uk