Category Archives: resources

30% of children held on remand in the UK are Black

Nationally 30% of all children held on remand in the UK are Black. That’s the shocking finding of Transform Justice and the Howard League for Penal Reform.

The data was revealed following a Freedom of Information request.

Director of Transform Justice, Penelope Gibbs said: “This huge racial disparity in the treatment of London’s children cannot be explained away. Remand separates children from their families and disrupts their education, and yet most children who are remanded do not go on to receive a prison sentence. 

The Howard League also reveals in a research briefing that in the past nine years the number of children being arrested has fallen but the figure for Black kids have stayed stubbornly high. Overall there were 71,885 in 2019.

Black kids are four times more likely to be arrested than their white counterparts.

Using the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) designator, 51% of children incarcerated were from those backgrounds, as at September 2020.

Children who are victims of county line gangs or trafficking are being treated as criminals by police when they are in fact the victims.

The government as usual has some soothing words to balm the wounds:

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We are working across government to tackle the deep-rooted causes of BAME children’s over-representation in the criminal justice system. This includes reviewing the disproportionate use of remand, along with improving legal advice and developing schemes for early intervention.”

So yet more reviews, but nothing will happen to free the children ensnared in the British injustice system until radical action is taken to force change.

The findings of the Lammy Review into racial inequality in the justice system have still not been acted upon, despite the government indicating that it would follow through on the review’s recommendations.

Excerpt from the Howard League research briefing:

The large reduction in the numbers of child arrests in the last decade is a success story but the data shows continued inequalities for Black children and those from minority ethnic backgrounds who have not benefitted from efforts to divert children to the same extent as white children. Government figures reveal that Black children are over four times as likely as white children to be arrested. The proportion of
white children arrested has fallen by 13 per cent over the last ten years, whilst the proportion of Black children arrested has doubled to 16 per
cent (Youth Justice Board, 2020).

The disproportionate impact of the criminal justice system on Black children and children from ethnic minority backgrounds grows
exponentially as children progress through the system, resulting in huge disparities in the numbers held on remand and serving sentences in child prisons. In September 2020, 51 per cent (273) of the 536 children
held in youth custody were from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds (HM Prison and Probation Service, 2020). In Feltham and
Cookham Wood prisons, around two-thirds of children being held on remand are Black or from minority ethnic backgrounds (Howard
League for Penal Reform, 2020a).

BLM Facts and Stats on why black lives matter – thanks to ABLUK

From All Black Lives UK

When we shout Black Lives Matter, we never said other lives don’t matter…

…we said WE MATTER TOO.

We can go on for days explaining to you why we have to still scream Black Lives Matter, but let’s let the ‘Facts + Stats’ do the talking!

Creds to our Co-Founder @n0tasha_ and our graphic designer Tom for creating these ✊?✨

Black Lives Matter Facts + Stats, compiled by ABLUK

Black women are five times more likely to die during pregnancy.

Black people are 10 times more likely to be stopped and searched.

Black people are 3.5 times more likely to be arrested.

Black people serve prison sentences that are 50% longer for the same crimes.

Black Caribbean children are 2.5x more likely to be temporarily excluded from school and 3x more likely to be permanently excluded.

White households on average earn 18% more than Black Caribbean households.

Only 37% of Black Caribbean people own their own homes compared to 68% for White British people

For every one white person, 3.7 black people are detained under Mental Health Act.

More ‘Facts + Stats’ to come…

Lesson plan for Entry 2 learners for English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)

My name is Lucilia  Branco and I am an ESOL tutor. 

I work for Tower Hamlets idea stores and teach English to speakers of other languages. 

As ESOL teachers we work with a lot of migrants and refugees and believe their voices should be brought into conversations about race and racism. 

I , together with my colleague Lisa Thomas, have created a lesson for my Entry 2 learners (elementary level – still beginners) .

Survey: Examining cannabis use, experience and cessation by people who are of black and mixed race.

Hello, my name is Ella and I am a third year psychology student in the School of Psychology at the University of Leeds and am currently undertaking my third year research project. The purpose of this research is to study black and mixed race individuals in order to advance our knowledge and understanding of their cannabis use and experience. This group is being studied as they are not currently well represented in research. To do this research, we want to make sure that we are looking at the right issues and asking the right questions – and we hope you might be willing to help us with that. The ideas suggested by people will be used in a further online survey which you are also welcome to take part at a later stage if you wish.

Participation is voluntary, and if you decide you are interested in taking part in this research, you will go on to answer a few questions. This will take about 10 minutes and you are not asked to tell us your name, address, email or any other identifying information. We just need to know your views.

Who can take part?

Due to my level of qualification, the study can only recruit people who do not currently use cannabis or any other illegal drugs and who are not currently receiving treatment for drug use. You must not have used cannabis in the last 6 months. All participants must also be aged 18 and over and not be suffering any mental health difficulties. You need to be able to understand and respond to a survey in English.

Primary researcher: Ella Beaumont
Contact: ps14e3b@leeds.ac.uk
Supervisor: Dr Siobhan Hugh-Jones
Contact: s.hugh-jones@leeds.ac.uk

To take part in the survey go to leeds.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/phase-one