6. Statement by the Deputy Minister and Chief Whip: The Wales Race Equality Action Plan — an anti-racist Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:35 pm on 23 March 2021.

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Photo of John Griffiths John Griffiths Labour 5:35, 23 March 2021

I very much welcome the action plan, Minister, and I very much take the point that you've made, and that so many of the stakeholders have made, consistently over a period of time, that there's been a lot of identification of problems, but not nearly enough action to deal with them, and I think that's why an action plan is so welcome.

As you say, the pandemic has put the issues, the inequalities faced by our black, Asian and ethnic minority communities, in stark relief. Just this morning, I visited the Jamia mosque in Newport, which was set up as a one-day vaccination centre for today, because there's been not enough take-up within those communities of the vaccination. And we know that they've suffered disproportionately in terms of the physical harm and, indeed, the economic and social effects of COVID-19 throughout the pandemic. So, there's work to be done there, and it was good to see that initiative in Newport today. 

It's perhaps a slight paradox in some ways, Minister, that although there's been a lot of identification of the problems, we still don't have enough statistics really in terms of the prejudice, the discrimination, faced by our ethnic minorities here in Wales. So, I very much welcome what you say about, 'We need to think differently in terms of measuring and monitoring progress', because obviously, if we don't know our starting point and we're not able to measure the progress that we've made through the action plan, then, we're not in a position to comment effectively on its effectiveness and see whether change and tweaking is necessary. 

So, I wonder if you could provide just a little bit more detail in terms of what thinking differently is likely to mean in terms of measuring and monitoring progress on that essential delivery. And just, finally, Minister, in terms of the work done thus far, to what extent does it involve consideration of stakeholders from the Roma community, the Gypsy and Traveller community and those European Union state citizens still living in Wales? We need to make sure it's as inclusive as possible and, very often, there's a need for outreach into these communities, and I'd be grateful for your advice on to what extent that's likely to feature in the action plan. Diolch yn fawr.