Service provision for BAME service users
Service provision is specifically referenced in relation to BAME women but it should be considered more widely across the whole of the CJS. The Female Offender Strategy includes an action “requiring bidders for community provision grant funding to demonstrate how they will take the needs of BAME women into account when delivering their services.”
It is not enough to ask bidders to provide context on how they will deliver services for BAME communities, it should be a requirement that at least one of the organisations be specifically BAME focused. We would like to see a tailored approach to community provision by BAME specific organisations, with a professional register or an approved supplier list allowing smaller service providers to be on the radar.
EQUAL does not feel that MOJ/HMPPS have made meaningful progress on Lammy Recommendation 31 in relation to involving small organisations with a focus on BAME issues.
Recommendation 31
The MoJ should bring together a working group to discuss the barriers to more effective sub-contracting by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). The working group should involve the CRCs themselves and a cross-section of smaller organisations, including some with a particular focus on BAME issues.
Returning the probation service to the public sector should be seized on as an opportunity to engage and commission BAME service providers so that they can effectively support the rehabilitation and resettlement of BAME young people into communities and the workforce.
In 2018 HMPPS completed a rapid evidence assessment on the effectiveness of rehabilitative services for BAME people. After reviewing a range of research they found that cultural awareness and sensitivity influenced the positive experiences of BAME people engaging in rehabilitative services. It was also found that BAME individuals may be more resistant to treatment as a result of their experiences or fear of racism/discrimination, or the perception that intervention will not be culturally relevant. This supports the notion that BAME individuals may feel that culturally incompetent service providers are not best placed to serve their needs. The evidence also suggests that that cultural competence amongst service providers may be crucial to successful engagement.[3]
We recommend the MOJ carry out research in this area to establish whether BAME service providers would have a significant impact on the experiences of BAME individuals in prisons and probation. We appreciate the Minister’s positive statement about the involvement of BAME-led organisations and we now want to see this translated into grants and contracts for the BAME-led civil society sector.