AYJ Explains: Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill - Racial Disparity
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill will further entrench racial disparities and continue to reduce public trust and confidence in the criminal justice system. Here, the AYJ examines the Bill on the grounds of racial inequality and sets out our recommendations.
A. The Lammy Review in 2017 highlighted racial disparity in youth justice as its ‘biggest concern’ and the youth justice system continues to present shameful racial and ethnic disparities:
Children from ethnic minorities are overpoliced, more likely to be stopped and searched, arrested, less likely to be diverted, and are therefore disproportionately likely to end up in the criminal justice system.
Racial discrimination and bias are also evident in sentencing decisions. Youth Justice Board research published this year found that children from ethnic minorities are more likely to be given custodial remand, and in ‘almost all cases’, Black, Asian and mixed ethnicity children are more likely to receive harsher sentences.
‘Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic’ children now represent over half of children in prison, compared with only 18% of the child population; and during their time in youth custody, they consistently report worse experiences and treatment compared to white children.
The criminal records system further perpetuates racial inequalities in the justice system, creating additional barriers by impacting access to education, employment and housing - hampering the ability to move on from past mistakes.
A. Many of punitive proposals in the Bill are set to disproportionately impact children from ethnic minorities and entrench existing racial inequalities. Disturbingly, as revealed in government’s Impact Assessments and equality statement, the government knows legislation in the PCSC Bill will increase racial and ethnic disparity.
The government claims addressing racial disparity in the justice system is a priority, however the measures proposed in the Bill not only neglect to take meaningful action but moreover come with an explicit acknowledgement that they will exacerbate the existing problems. The government believes the disproportionate impact of the reforms is justifiable as a ‘proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim’. But this aim is far from legitimate – as set out above there is no evidential basis that increasingly punitive sentencing deters crime or reduces reoffending. These measures will not only fail to achieve the government’s stated aim but will further exacerbate existing racial inequalities rather than taking the necessary urgent action to address them. The legislation also entirely fails to engage with recommendations from the Lammy Review, which highlighted racial disparity in youth justice as its ‘biggest concern’.
The Bill also proposes to increase the maximum sentence for an assault on emergency worker offence from 12 months to two years, which will further criminalise children and this will have a disproportionate impact on certain children. While we understand the importance of protecting emergency workers, we are concerned about reports of police unfairly using the offence with racialised and overpoliced communities, as well as of the offence arising due to children acting out the frustration they feel of unjust targeting by police.
The AYJ is also very concerned about the impact that the Bill, regarding ‘unauthorised encampments’ and the criminalisation of trespass, will have on ethnic inequality in the youth justice system. Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children and adults are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system: 15% of children in Secure Training Centres and 8% of children in Young Offender Institutions identify themselves as Gypsy, Roma or Traveller (GRT),68 when just 0.1% of the general population is recorded as Gypsy/Irish Traveller.
A. All clauses that will exacerbate racial and ethnic disparities must be removed (including clauses 2, 100 (2) and (5), 103, 104, 105, 106, and Part 4).
The AYJ has been working with a coalition of criminal justice organisations to raise awareness about the impacts of the Bill on racial disparity. We sent an Open Letter to the Prime Minister in March, signed by over 70 criminal justice and race equality organisations, including many AYJ members, calling on him to withdraw the clauses his government has stated will increase racial inequality and properly consult on its proposals. We reiterate this call now.
Tackling Racial Injustice: Children and the Youth Justice System was published in February 2021 by a working party convened by JUSTICE, with significant contributions from the AYJ and many of our members. Work was undertaken over 18 months to address deep concerns over racial disparity in the youth justice system, and the final report makes 45 positive, practical recommendations for change. Rather than pursuing ineffective, harmful sentencing options that will do nothing to reduce crime and will exacerbate inequalities, we urge Parliament to look to this report for positive solutions for working towards a more equitable youth justice system.
For more information regarding concerns that measures in the Bill will entrench racial and ethnic inequalities, see the joint briefing by a coalition of organisations including the AYJ, EQUAL, Criminal Justice Alliance, Clinks, Agenda, Transition to Adulthood Alliance, Prison Reform Trust, Zahid Mubarek Trust, Maslaha, Do It Justice Ltd, Revolving Doors Agency, Leaders Unlocked, Switchback and Women in Prison. We also urge you to sign our joint petition to #EndCJSinequality here.
For more information on racial disparity or other measures in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, read our full briefing here.