Thanks for this. Kate.

I thought the event on 4 July was very useful and would like to make a few comments.

Representation
Seven years ago, when I commenced this post in Lancashire, our BME staff representation was 1.2%, significantly lower than the BME population as a whole in the county. We decided to employ an outreach worker who was part of and familiar with local communities. The results were very encouraging as we now have a representation of 7% (last census put Lancashire at 6.3%) and have developed a sustained relationship with local communities. It is my firm belief that change will come about when:

• organisations invest in staff whose sole function is to work within equality and diversity
• organisations realise that this area of work can not be an 'add on' to someone's job description
• communities can relate to organisations and they become an employer of choice when members of their own community/social group are employed within that organisation
• there is a sustained relationship with local diverse social groups and they are not approached only at times when it is convenient for us, i.e. for consultation purposes

Partnerships
Several years ago, Lancashire commissioned a report from the University of Central Lancashire to look at proposals in Pre-Sentence Reports on BME offenders. As a result of this, one of the initiatives was to tender for a BME partner organisation who would co-interview the offender with the probation officer. This would serve to increase the confidence of the probation officer in exploring issues around the offence with the help of a advisor who was from the same cultural background of the offender and ultimately lead to the most effective report being written for the court which could give a fully rounded picture of the offender and the offence.
We went out to national tender on two separate occasions and had no applications.
My point here is that sometimes, no matter how willing organisations are to engage with diverse communities and social groups, the capacity simply is not there. The Criminal Justice organisations possibly suffer more in this respect because of the client base we work with. It is difficult for South Asian communities to work with probation when alternatives to custody are unknown in that area.
I think that work needs to be done in this area to gauge what is out there and how we can build on it.


Bobbie Perry
Equality and Diversity Manager