Theresa May promised to address injustice of black men being treated more harshly – but the problem has worsened

When Theresa May became prime minister in July 2016, she placed fighting “burning injustice” at the heart of her vision to put the “union” back into the politics of the Conservative and Unionist party. Among a litany of examples of such injustices, she included: “If you’re black, you’re treated more harshly by the criminal justice system than if you’re white.”

Meanwhile, the Labour MP David Lammy was conducting a landmark review of the treatment of and outcomes for black, Asian and minority ethnic (BME) individuals in the criminal justice system. At that time around 40% of inmates in youth jails – young offender institutions (YOIs) and secure training centres (STCs) – were from BME backgrounds, a figure Lammy felt was shockingly high.

On Tuesday it emerged that the situation had worsened: now 51% of inmates in YOIs identified as being from a BME background – nearly four times the 14% BME proportion in the wider UK population.

Lammy said he was alarmed by the figure, which was pushing at US levels of disproportionality. But why had it risen since he conducted his review? “There is no silver bullet to this problem,” Lammy said.

“Disproportionality in youth custody is the result of a number of complex issues that have come together over the past few years. These include cuts to local authorities, police, increased deprivation within housing estates and reduced funding for youth and mental health services,” he said. “Disproportionality starts early: black Caribbean pupils are about three and a half times more likely to be permanently excluded from state schools than all students.”

Lammy repeated his concerns over a lack of diversity in the judiciary – an issue that has not been tackled in the two years since the review. The proportion of black and minority ethnic judges rose by just one percentage point between April 2016 and April 2017, to 7%, and then stagnated.

He said: “Courts are too distant from the communities they put on trial. As I have consistently recommended, we desperately need to find more black judges, particularly females, who are chronically underrepresented in our courts across London and the UK.”

Before turning his life around, Sephton Henry was in and out of several prisons, including youth offender institutions. Now he runs his own company, Unity Together, which aims to empower communities. He agrees that disproportionality throughout public life has an impact on young people from minority backgrounds.

“Through what I have seen, there is a massive disproportion of BME people in the governmental sector,” he says. “I’ve worked with the NHS, the Youth Justice Board, I’ve been in the Houses of Parliament, I’ve trained government staff and I’ve been in the mayor’s office. What I’ve found is the people asking about knife crime, about youth justice, they don’t come from the BME community, and they have the power to make decisions. Why are there not more people from a BME background making those important decisions?”

Henry’s experience has informed strong views on why BME disproportionality is worsening and the downward spiral effect it can have on young black men. Recalling his time in YOI Feltham, where 71% of inmates identify as BME, he said: “The whole jail was black. There were hardly any other races in there. It was all black boys. There were a few white boys, just an odd few on each wing. I have seen the same in Feltham, Isis, Rochester, Aylesbury and Brixton prisons. You look around, you think: this is my life. Everything is set up for us to fail.”

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Violence against the person makes up the greatest proportion of proven offences by children, about 28% of the total. Last year the Home Office launched a serious violence strategy, which cited findings that young offenders often came from disadvantaged backgrounds and had complex needs such as homelessness, poor educational attainment, lack of employable skills and mental health issues.

Disproportionality is prevalent throughout many of these metrics. People from BME backgrounds are twice as likely to be unemployed as white people, they are more likely to be excluded from school and more likely to live in single-parent households.

The Home Office placed early intervention at the heart of its strategy as a means to tackle some of these issues and prevent young people from being drawn into a life of crime. A £17m fund was set up to support services that provide such help.

Donna Molloy, the director of policy and practice at the Early Intervention Foundation, said there was a strong case for making early intervention a higher priority. “The challenge now is to realise that potential,” she said. “Too much early intervention has not been tested here in the UK. We need to test it more, and we need to fund it properly. We know that behavioural problems in childhood are predictive of children’s later involvement in crime and antisocial behaviour during teenage years and adulthood.”

Parenting is a key influence on development and many services focus on supporting parents, most often after a referral from a school or nursery worker. Molloy said: “This isn’t just an issue for low-income families, obviously there are parents who need support who are from affluent families too. However, that said, there is a strong correlation between income and the sorts of issues we’re talking about.

“We know that wide and persistent gaps in children’s development open up along socio-economic lines from an early age. Babies from poorer households are more likely to have lower birth weight, a less stimulating home learning environment, to develop social and emotional and social problems, and are more likely to have behavioural problems.

“Early intervention works to close the gaps in outcomes between children growing up in poorer and better-off households. It’s an equaliser. That’s why it’s such an important plank of any government strategy for social mobility.”

But funding for early intervention services is being cut. A landmark report, Turning the Tide, produced by Action for Children, the Children’s Society and National Children’s Bureau, revealed that between 2010-11 and 2015-16 spend on early intervention fell in real terms by 40%. Funding of Sure Start centres, which would provide access to early intervention services, halved over eight years.

The Ministry of Justice said in response to the Lammy review that it had created a dedicated team within its youth justice policy unit to work closely with the Youth Justice Board on disproportionality.

But if May wants to realise her vision of tackling the burning injustice of black men being treated more harshly by the criminal justice system, she will have to look at the impact austerity is having on services that can prevent them from coming into contact with police, courts and prisons in the first place.