Today the Government have published statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System. The statistics, published under section 95 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991, are one of the main sources of information available on Black and other Minority (BME) Ethnic groups' experiences across the CJS.The Government are committed to delivering a CJS which promotes equality, does not discriminate against anyone because of their race, that has a workforce which fairly represents the communities it services and is effective in rooting out and tackling racism and racist crime.The statistics published today show that significant progress has been made but that there is still much to do. For example on race hate crime the statistics show racist incidents recorded by the police rose in 2004–05 but that the British Crime Survey (which is a large scale survey based on reports of people's individual experience) estimated the number of racist incidents fell. That might be an indication that the progress we have made in investigating and prosecuting hate crime has given people greater confidence to report incidents and been effective in preventing them from happening.The representation of BME groups working for CJS agencies has improved, in 2004–05 the Police, Prison, Crown Prosecution, Probation Services and Crown and Magistrates courts all recorded an increase in the number of BME staff.There are signs that the confidence of BME groups that the CJS will treat them fairly is improving. The Government have set a target to reduce the percentage of people from BME communities who believe they would be treated worse than people from white communities by one or more CJS agency. The most recent Home Office Citizenship Survey (which is the basis for the measure) shows that, while there has not been a statistically significant decrease in the proportion of people from BME communities who believe one or more agency might discriminate against them, there has been a significant reduction in the proportion who believe it of the Courts, the Police, the CPS and the Prison Service.But the Government are not complacent and acknowledge that there is still much to do. The statistics reveal that BME people continue to be disproportionately represented in the CJS. While that data does not necessarily mean there is discrimination it is an issue the Government are committed to addressing. In key areas such as the use of stop and search the statistics do not reveal an increase in the disproportion between different groups but neither has there been a reduction.The Government have a programme of work to understand and address this and other issues. While the ultimate outcome of this work will be to secure a reduction in the levels of inappropriate disproportion as well as increased BME community confidence in the CIS it will take time for the initiatives to have an impact.We will continue to use these statistics to drive forward further change by ensuring all agencies continue to scrutinise their policies and standards, and work towards ensuring services are delivered fairly to all communities.Copies of the statistics will be placed in the House Library and can be accessed on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/section951.html.

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