Welcome to the final issue of the CRE Parliamentary Bulletin.

In this Bulletin, you will find links to major CRE announcements, press releases and statements. Just click on the links to find out more about an item.

1. The Roll Call of Honour

Parliamentarians past and present who championed the work of the CRE

The Commission for Racial Equality was not only given life by Parliament, but continued to receive support from many parliamentarians past and present.

For some parliamentarians, their bonds with the CRE have been long-lasting - as Commissioners, staff and a former Chair. We owe a particular debt of gratitude to the following current Parliamentarians:

House of Commons

• Shahid Malik MP, CRE Commissioner 1998-2000

House of Lords

• Baroness Cousins, former CRE Director of Social Policy
• Lord Dholakia, CRE staff 1976-94
• Baroness Flather, CRE Commissioner 1980-1986
• Lord Hastings, CRE Commissioner 1993-2001
• Baroness Howells, Director of the Greenwich Racial Equality Council
• Sir Digby Jones, CRE Commissioner 2004-2007
• Lord Lester, Architect of the Race Relations Act
• Lord Ouseley, CRE Chair and CEO 1993-2000
• Lord Parekh, CRE Deputy Chair 1985-1990
• Baroness Scotland, CRE Commissioner 1990-1992

European Parliament

• Claude Moraes MEP, CRE Commissioner 1998-1999

And special thanks to the following who have championed the CRE and supported our causes in parliament over many years:

House of Commons

• Diane Abbott MP
• Tim Boswell MP
• Peter Bottomley
• Karen Buck MP
• Lorely Burt MP
• Dawn Butler MP
• Harry Cohen MP
• Rt Hon John Denham MP
• Parmjit Dhanda MP
• Andrew Dismore MP
• Angela Eagle MP
• Lynn Featherstone MP
• Barbara Follett MP
• Sandry Gidley
• Dominic Grieve MP
• Rt Hon Peter Hain MP
• Meg Hillier MP
• Sadiq Khan MP
• Eleanor Laing MP
• Norman Lamb MP
• David Lammy MP
• Julie Morgan MP
• Joan Ruddock MP
• Mohammed Sarwar MP
• Rt Hon Jack Straw
• Andrew Stunell MP
• Sarah Teather MP
• Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP
• Phil Woolas MP

House of Lords

• Lord Adebowale
• Lord Ali
• Baroness Andrews
• Baroness Anelay of St Johns
• Baroness Amos
• Lord Avebury
• Lord Carlile
• Lord Desai
• Lord Filkin
• Lord Morris
• Lord Ramsbotham
• Baroness Thornton
• Baroness Uddin
• Baroness Whitaker
• Baroness Young

And the late Piara Khabra MP and Lord Chan.

Special thanks to Simon Woolley, Director of Operation Black Vote, and all his team who have worked tirelessly with all the parties to improve ethnic minority representation in parliament, local government and in public life.

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2. CRE response to the government's green paper, A Framework for Fairness - Proposals for a Single Equality Bill for Great Britain.

The CRE support the principle of a Single Equality Act to modernise and join up discrimination law for the 21st Century. We therefore welcome the publication of the Government's Single Equality Bill proposals.

However, the CRE are disappointed about the proposals contained in this Green Paper and are therefore urging stakeholders to take part in the consultation which ends on 4 September 2007.

We see the present consultation as only the first step in a debate towards designing the right equality legislation for modern, diverse Britain. Many of the proposals require persuasive evidence and radical improvement.

Our focus is on what the proposals mean for race, and we have particular concerns about the proposals for a weakened single equality duty, a lack of serious discussion of enforcement, and how access to justice issues are addressed.

We will be circulating detailed briefings on the Green Paper in the coming weeks and announcing the dates for a series of consultation events around the country. Information about these events will be advertised in the CRE eBulletin, a monthly newsletter from providing regular updates on race relations issues until the CRE closes on 30 September 2007.
Read the July edition online now and subscribe to future editions here.

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3. Legislative Update

(Click on a title to read the full briefings)

• Offender Management Bill

The Offender Management Bill proposes changes to the provision of probation services, prisons and other matters relating to the management of offenders.

The CRE has concerns about provisions in the Bill which could see probation boards being replaced with probation trusts and the possibility of some or all probation services being sub-contracted to other bodies such as private companies or charities in the future.

• Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill

The CRE interest in this Bill stems from previous inquiries conducted into prisons and mental health institutions into the deaths of ethnic minority people in custody, including David 'Rocky' Bennett and Zahid Mubarek. These raised serious questions about the ability to hold mental health and criminal justice agencies to account for institutional and systemic failures.

Our briefing on the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill outlines the CRE's support for the Lords amendments which would extend protection to people detained in police cells, prisons and mental healthcare institutions.

The CRE believes that an extension of the corporate offence to deaths in custody is needed to maintain public confidence in our criminal justice system.

• Mental Health Bill

Although the Mental Health Bill has completed its passage through Parliament, the details of a Code of Practice are yet to be decided. You may therefore still wish to refer to our briefing on this important Bill.

The CRE has had a longstanding interest in the delivery of mental health services because of well-established differential outcomes for a number of different ethnic minority communities.

• Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

This Bill proposes a number of reforms to the system of local government and patient & public involvement in the provision of health and social care services in England and Wales.

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4. CRE supports EDMs 1714 and 1727 against the use of restraints on children in Secure Training Centres

The CRE have produced a briefing in support of Early Day Motion EDM 1714 which seeks the annulment of the Government's Statutory Instrument on Secure Training Centre (Amendment) Rules 2007 (SI 2007/1709). We also support EDM 1727 on the use of Restraints in Secure Training Centres.

Reinforced by the recent finding of the inquest into the tragic death of Gareth Myatt, a 15 year old boy of mixed race, the CRE have serious concerns about any widening of the powers of STC staff to use restraint, urge the withdrawal of this SI, and urge MPs to sign EDM 1714 to this end and for Peers to attend the debate and vote against the Rules, in order that they may be annulled.

We urge MPs to sign the above EDMs to call on the Government to withdraw SI 1709 and review the use of restraints in Secure Training Centres.

• Click here to read our briefing in full

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5. CRE's 100 Day Plan for the Prime Minister

As Gordon Brown took over at Number 10 at the end of June, the CRE set out 5 steps the new Prime Minister could take during his first 100 days in office to demonstrate his commitment to putting good race relations at the heart of his agenda.

• Read the CRE's 100 Day Plan here

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6. Police Stop and Search and DNA Database

The CRE recently challenged certain police forces over their disproportionate rates of stop-and-search for black and Asian people, pressing them to identify and adopt practices used by similar forces producing more equal rates.

A number of forces have accepted our recommendations and others are reviewing their practices. The CRE will continue to liaise with the police on this matter.

Work is also underway to challenge the over representation of black people's profiles on the national DNA database.

Home Affairs Report on Young Black People and the Criminal Justice System

The Home Affairs Committee has published their report on Young Black People and the Criminal Justice System. The CRE provided a written submission to the inquiry stating that:

"we believe it is timely given the recent research commissioned by the Youth Justice Board which found that ethnic minority youngsters are over-represented in the youth justice system."

The CRE's submission focused on:

• the relationship between ethnicity and offending;
• the differential treatment, experiences and outcomes for ethnic minorities in the youth justice system;
• police use of stop and search and its impact on trust and confidence, and
• use of anti-social behaviour orders and lack of ethnic monitoring.
• Click here to access the Home Affairs Select Committee Report

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7. Publications and Research

(Click on a title for more)

• Social Capital Indicators in the UK

Social capital is a concept that is both contested and often indistinctly defined. It runs throughout discussions about social cohesion and the integration of deprived and minority groups who are socially excluded from relations with mainstream society.

This report theorises that social capital is a network-based process that can generate both positive and negative outcomes through social norms and trust, and that these are shaped at the societal, neighbourhood and individual level.

• Working Together, Living Apart: New Research on Social Interaction

Britain's schools and offices have become increasingly diverse. So why is it that many people still not mixing outside their own ethnic group outside the workplace?

This research considers whether a lack of interaction reinforces ignorance and misunderstanding, and examines the factors that may lead to positive change.

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8. CRE Scotland

Read all the latest news from CRE Scotland in their e-Bulletin or visit the CRE Scotland website.

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9. CRE Wales

• Welsh Minister welcomes outcome of Thomas Cook discussions on Welsh language

Education Culture and Welsh Language Minister, Carwyn Jones, held a constructive meeting with representatives from the travel company Thomas Cook on 9 July to discuss the company's Welsh language policy.

• Croeso Project

CRE Wales' Croeso project aims to celebrate the diverse people and cultures of Wales by working with a broad range of organisations to promote understanding of language, faith, community and inclusion.

For further information about the CRE's work in Wales, please visit the CRE Wales website, or contact our team in Wales on 02920 729 200 or via email at InformationWales@cre.gov.uk

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10. The CRE's legacy

Thirty years of race elations work from the CRE

Produced in 2006 to mark the 30th anniversary of the creation of the Commission for Racial Equality, our book 30: At the Turning of the Tide is a retrospective look back at the highs and lows of the past 30 years of tackling discrimination in British society.

For each year of the CRE existence, there is a piece of writing from one of thirty distinguished contributors, discussing the changes which have taken place in society, politics, literature, the arts, the law, science and more, considering the future that today's children have inherited and the challenges still ahead.

A web version of this collector's item - complete with photos, articles and poems - or a PDF are available on-line.

• Download your copy of 30: At the Turning of the Tide, and read chapters online here

40 Years of Law Against Racial Discrimination

Four decades have passed since Britain's first Race Relations Act was introduced in 1965. To mark this event, the Commission for Racial Equality created a special exhibition which you may have seen at conferences, events and in Parliament.

The exhibition considers the social and political factors that have shaped the law over the past 40 years, through the race relations legislation of 1965, 1968 and 1976, to the 2000 Amendment Act and beyond. It looks at the discrimination faced by newly-arrived migrants from Britain's former colonies in the mid-Sixties, before moving on to the advent of the CRE and its new enforcement powers in the Seventies. It concludes with the present day, and the introduction of new statutory duties on public authorities and the prospect of a single equality body.

• Click here the view the 40 Years Exhibition and take our Race Relations Quiz.

Getting Results - Funding for Local Race Relations Work

Communities across the UK will receive £4 million in funding as part of the CRE's annual 'Getting Results' programme.

The awards provide a cash injection for a wide range of front line race relations projects and are part of the CRE's lasting commitment to fighting discrimination and promoting integration at a local level.

• Click here to read more and to view the full list of funded organisations.

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11. Teaching About Slavery: A CRE online resource for schools

As we commemorate the bicentenary of the first Act of Parliament to end the British involvement in the Slave Trade, the CRE has launched a new online resource for schools to help them teach young people about this history.

Teaching about Slavery is a microsite for primary and secondary school teachers, pulling together a range of materials to assist teachers covering the Transatlantic Slave Trade and wider black history issues. Further cross-curricula teaching resources will be available later this year.

• Teaching about Slavery website

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12. The Future: The Commission for Equality and Human Rights

On the 1st October 2007, the Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) opens its doors. The CEHR, a non-departmental public body will take on the powers of the Commission for Racial Equality, and the Disability Rights Commission and the Equal Opportunities Commission, as well as new powers to enforce legislation more effectively and promote equality for all.

CEHR will also promote awareness and understanding of human rights and encourage good practice by public authorities in meeting their Human Rights Act obligations. The Commission will cover England, Scotland and Wales. In Scotland and Wales there will be statutory committees responsible for the work of the CEHR.

The CEHR is currently in a transitional stage, but keep visiting the CEHR website for the latest developments.

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Previous issue of the CRE Parliamentary Bulletin

All sixteen previous editions are available to read online:

• Parliamentary Bulletins: Archive

The CRE Public Affairs team

You can get in touch with us by email at publicaffairs@cre.gov.uk or call us on 020 7939 0000

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