The Prison Strategy White Paper – a lost opportunity to address racial disparity

On 7th December, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) published the Prisons Strategy White Paper which sets out proposals for future changes to the prison estate and prison regimes, many of which will have significant consequences for the way prisons are run over the next decade. There is no focus on addressing the stark levels of disproportionality for racially minoritised people in prison, and no recognition of the unequal outcomes they face. This is extremely concerning – any future prison strategy should have equality and fairness at its core.

Khatuna Tsintsadze, Zahid Mubarek Trust and Dez Brown, Spark2Life, who hold the seats for organisations led by and focused on racially minoritised people on the Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Board, which Clinks chairs and provides the secretariat for, have written a letter to the Rt Hon. Dominic Raab MP, Secretary of State for Justice, raising these concerns which has been signed by over 50 organisations from the voluntary sector working in criminal justice.