A NEW report has urged that probation services must show greater consideration and confidence in their work with black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) service users and staff.
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation found out that the probation service’s focus on racial equality has declined since Transforming Rehabilitation reforms were introduced in 2014, a statement said.
Inspectors also found the service has no specific strategy for delivering activity to ethnic minority service users, a statement said.
According to a statement, out of 222,000 people supervised by probation services across England and Wales, around a fifth are from BAME backgrounds.
Chief inspector of Probation Justin Russell said: “In this inspection, we found very little evidence of probation officers speaking to service users about their race, ethnicity or experiences of discrimination. Some officers – by their own admission – avoided talking about these issues altogether.
“Data about race, ethnicity and religion was missing in almost one in 10 inspected cases. Sometimes staff met with individuals who had experienced discrimination or trauma, but no issues were recorded on their file. Probation officers need to find out as much as possible about individuals to support their rehabilitation. How can you help someone if you don’t know what their life is like."
The report said that inspectors heard distressing stories of inappropriate behaviour towards ethnic minority staff including instances of stereotyping, racist and sexualised language, and false allegations. Ethnic minority staff were not always consulted or supported to work with individuals who had committed race-related offences.
Besides, many surveyed staff did not feel it was safe to raise issues of racial discrimination at work and lacked faith that complaints would be handled appropriately.
The report includes 15 recommendations for HM Prison and Probation Service and the National Probation Service.
Russell said: “In a little over 100 days, probation services will be unified in England and Wales. At a national level, we want to see a strategy that sets out how the unified service will work with ethnic minority service users. There is also an urgent job to do to rebuild trust with ethnic minority staff."
The chief inspector added that he will reinspect this work again in two years, the statement added.
