Anti-racism scrutiny board say criminal justice agencies must do better at having workforces that represent all communities

An anti-racism scrutiny board has raised the lack of progress in creating representative workforces in Avon and Somerset’s criminal justice agencies as a cause for concern.

The Independent Scrutiny Board (ISB) is made up of local volunteers from local Black and minoritised communities who review ongoing work under a programme to tackle racial disproportionality. The ISB provide critical advice and scrutiny on whether that work is effective and having an impact by making a difference to communities.

The programme looks at work in several areas where improvement is needed – workforce representation is one of those key areas.

The panel was formed in 2023, after the publication of a report into race disproportionality in the criminal justice organisations including police, crown prosecution service, youth offending teams, courts, prisons and probation among others.

In their latest meeting, the Board reviewed the work of all agencies to recruit and retain people from diverse communities to make their workforces more representative of the communities they serve. They were also presented with the latest data which captures the up-to-date picture of any identified race disproportionality in the criminal justice system.

Chair of the Board Peninah Achieng-Kindberg said, “We are grateful for the pillar leads who presented today for explaining where they are and the work that is happening to try to make change, but if we were to rate the progress across all agencies to tackle workforce underrepresentation, we would rate it as ‘red’ and a cause for concern.

“Our role is to be transparent and flag issues. As we see it now, the fact that the workforces of the agencies who manage our criminal justice system services do not represent the communities they serve, especially at senior levels, is a big issue that needs addressing.

“Things are not getting better, we are not seeing leaders who are representative of their communities being appointed. As an independent scrutiny board, we would like to see a more coordinated approach, with a joint strategy to create change.”

At the meeting, the data shared showed that generally disproportionately has increased across the measured areas, with large disparities still in the policing and youth justice data. The one area that had seen improvements in the disparities was in police charging decisions.

During the meeting, the Scrutiny Board questioned the agencies leads on:

• What opportunities is each agency providing for career progression for its employees, to make sure senior managers and decision-makers better represent their communities?
• Do agencies take the time to read and understand what people are telling them during their exit interviews, when they leave their organisations?
• Why are not all agencies providing the data so the full picture of where disproportionality exists is available?

The ISB, which is the first volunteer board in our area made up of entirely Black and minoritised members, was set up after the publication of the Identifying Disproportionality in the Criminal Justice System Report, commissioned by the Local Criminal Justice Board in 2019. The report set out 83 recommendations for change – for all agencies involved in delivering criminal justice across Avon and Somerset.  

Police and Crime Commissioner, Clare Moody, is the Chair of the Local Criminal Justice Board which the work of the programme falls under.

The Independent Scrutiny Board will be meeting with the Tackling Disproportionality steering committee, made up of the statutory partner agencies, who oversee the programme at an annual workshop in early October. The workshop aims to review progress and discuss performance measures for the year ahead for all agencies involved.

For more information about the work of the programme and the Independent Scrutiny Board, visit: Tackling Disproportionality | OPCC for Avon and Somerset (avonandsomerset-pcc.gov.uk)merset-pcc.gov.uk)