4. Statement by the Minister for Social Justice: Eradicating racism and building an anti-racist Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:42 pm on 22 June 2021.

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Photo of Jane Hutt Jane Hutt Labour 3:42, 22 June 2021

Thank you very much. Diolch yn fawr, Altaf Hussain. Thank you very much for those very important words. And, as you say, it is difficult to address and challenge our structural racism. It can go, and has gone unnoticed for too long. It's been hidden, and, of course, it has affected the chances of so many. So, eradicating racism and promoting race equality—always been a priority for the Welsh Government. And we have shared in this Chamber—we've supported together—as all the parties represented last year, on more than one occasion, our abhorrence of racism and racist ideologies.

I think you do set an important challenge for us as Welsh Government. It cannot be just warm words. It's actually—. That's why the plan is so important, because it's built on the values of anti-racism. It calls for zero tolerance, as you say, for racism in all its guises, but it's been developed collaboratively, and I think that's its strength, because it hasn't been the Government saying, 'This is what we think is right.' This has actually been about those who are affected by racism, and those who work in our professions and who live in our communities have worked with us to get this plan to the point where then we can implement it, and we do intend it to be a practical plan. If you look at it, and we look forward to your responses, it does have very specific actions to be taken, and it's across all policy areas. So, in developing the plan, I met with all the Ministers in the Welsh Government. Every part of the Welsh Government has a responsibility, and their actions across it—. And, once finalised, the Welsh Government will be committed to and held accountable for it. 

Just a couple of points I wanted to follow up, in terms of the key issues, and I think education is crucial, as you say, because this affects the chances of everyone. And the black, Asian and minority ethnic communities' contributions, and Cynefin, in the new curriculum working group, which was chaired by Professor Charlotte Williams, commissioned by the First Minister and working to the education Minister—that was established last August. And it did oversee that development of learning resources crucial for our schools. It identified gaps in current resources or training related to black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, their contributions and experiences, and, as Members from that Senedd at the end of March who were here, you will recall that the former Minister for Education accepted all 71 recommendations in the new curriculum working group's final report on 19 March. So, the Welsh Government now is already implementing the recommendations. The Minister, Jeremy Miles, is taking this forward as Minister for Education and the Welsh Language, looking at it as part of the new curriculum implementation, and the Welsh Government's race equality action plan has a set of very early recommendations put forward by the group on learning resources. But then, of course, it means it has to engage with Estyn, regional consortia, race equality action plan stakeholders and, indeed, Professor Charlotte Williams, supporting the Welsh Government's implementation of the recommendations in an advisory role.

I just also want to say something about hate crime. You talk about hate and how we have to address and tackle the intimidation and the fear that's been woven into the fabric, as you say, of our world. Yesterday, I met with BAWSO—really important to hear from them about the work that they've been doing to support black, Asian and minority ethnic women, particularly through the pandemic, and the ways in which they have fought against very difficult situations for those with no recourse to public funds, which, of course, we feel should be addressed—we're working on it in the Welsh Government, but it also needs UK Government support as well. But just to finally say, to raise awareness and understanding of hate crime and encourage reporting, the Welsh Government invested £180,000 in the development of Hate hurts Wales, and that's a campaign to help tackle hate crime and incidents. And to do that, to develop that campaign, again, we consulted with people from ethnic minority backgrounds to actually get the right kind of communication campaign and to ensure that we had addressed it in a culturally sensitive way but that we also looked at the tone and the message for the campaign, and that was launched on 9 March. And we continue to fund the national hate crime report and support centre run by Victim Support Cymru. I would very much advise, especially our new Members, and returning Members, to visit the national hate crime and support centre, which is working so hard in this field. So, I'm very grateful for that support from yourself, Altaf, and obviously from the Welsh Conservatives today.