item 6 this afternoon is a statement by the Minister for Social Justice on tackling institutionalised and systemic racism, 'Anti-racist Wales Action Plan', and I call on the Minister, Jane Hutt. 

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Last October, the whole Senedd endorsed a motion to support wholeheartedly the global fight to root out racism and racist ideology and strive towards a more equal Wales, tackling systemic and structural race inequality. Following our consultation last year, we've continued to co-design with black, Asian and minority ethnic people across Wales the actions we must take to tackle institutionalised and systemic racism. I'm therefore proud to be publishing today the 'Anti-racist Wales Action Plan'. At its heart is a shared vision to create an anti-racist nation by 2030, where everyone is treated as an equal citizen and is enabled to thrive and prosper.

The plan sets out the goals and actions we will take over the next 24 months, covering all aspects of public life that shape and influence the experience and life chances of ethnic minority people. We want to make sure that we continue to walk in the shoes of people with lived experience, and that the experiences of individuals and communities keep shaping our thinking and the decisions we make. We developed the plan by involving people and communities and in collaboration with organisations across all parts of Wales, and this will continue as we move to implementation.

To provide the necessary and continuing confidence that this plan is being implemented an accountability group will be established, led by Professor Emmanuel Ogbonna, from Cardiff University, and Dr Andrew Goodall, Permanent Secretary at the Welsh Government. It will mainly consist of ethnic minority people, and will be further strengthened by including experts with lived experience of racism, and will benefit from evidence and insight coordinated from our recently established race disparity unit. 

We knew that we needed to shape the goals and actions with ethnic minority people, so we made valuing lived experience one of the values underpinning how we developed the plan. And, quite rightly, we were also asked to embrace the values of a rights-based approach and that of openness and transparency. Ethnic minority people’s expectations are clear: they want action that makes a meaningful difference to their lives. An anti-racist approach is a fundamental shift that we need to take. Adopting an anti-racist approach requires the Welsh Government, public services and us all to be proactive in identifying and tackling systemic racism in all aspects of how Wales works. It requires us to look at how racism is built into our policies, formal and informal rules, and the way we work and involve people in the decisions that affect them, and then do something about it.

This plan will play an important part in creating a united and fairer Wales for all. This is a commitment at the heart of the co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru, sharing a determination to tackle institutionalised and systemic racism now, as racism is a pernicious feature of the lived experience of black, Asian and minority ethnic people. The agreement with Plaid Cymru also commits us to ensuring that the justice elements of the action plan are as robust as possible and address these matters with the police and the courts. We continue to work with partners from the criminal justice in Wales board to develop and fully embed a collective anti-racist approach to criminal justice in Wales. We must also ensure that the experience of racism is not passed on to future generations. No-one should be held back or left behind. 

Many people gifted their precious time and their experiences to shape the plan. Earlier today, I joined the First Minister for a stakeholder moment to thank everyone for their contribution to this work. I, with many of you, want to recognise the willingness of ethnic minority people to extend their trust in securing the possibility of change and in providing their leadership and sharing their lived experiences to help make this plan what it is.

I want to record my thanks to Professor Ogbonna and the Permanent Secretary as co-chairs of the steering group for this work and to all members of the steering group who have helped shape and guide this work over the last two years. The generosity of those contributions and what people were willing to share freely to bring about change was inspiring. 

Through this plan, we're making clear the contribution this Government will take to tackle systemic and institutionalised racism. Achieving the more equal Wales well-being goal and an anti-racist nation by 2030 will require a collective effort. Tangible improvements will come as a result of change within public services and in those in positions of power. 

We do this acknowledging the immense leadership within the ethnic minority communities and leadership at all levels—as individuals, as political leaders, as community activists, as academics and as leaders of organisations. Ethnic minority people, for generations, have contributed to all spheres of our economy, education, social care, and cultural and sport heritage, to name a few.

Visionary leaders and activists like Betty Campbell worked with passion to be a good example to the rest of the world about how we can live together regardless of where we come from or the colour of our skin. Professor Charlotte Williams's pioneering work means that learning about the cultural heritage and ethnic diversity of Wales is now a mandatory element of our national curriculum.

Many of our key services, like our health and social care services, would not be possible without ethnic minority people working in them, and during COVID-19 we would have been lost without this workforce.

We are committed to provide the leadership, our resources and our influence to tackle systemic and institutionalised racism within Wales. This is a whole-of-Government plan, with commitments and actions from across ministerial portfolios and within the Welsh Government civil service. This is reflected in the statements made today by the Minister for Education and Welsh Language and the Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, and Chief Whip, taking forward key actions within the anti-racist plan.

We're asking everyone to work with us in creating an anti-racist Wales, a Wales in which we can all be proud to belong and in which each of us will thrive.

Thank you, Minister, for your statement. Despite the Welsh Government's previous efforts to eradicate racism in Wales, the number of racially motivated hate crimes is on the rise. It is estimated that 65 per cent of hate crimes are racially motivated. These sorts of facts have led some to consider Wales as the most racist country in the United Kingdom. Many young people from ethnic minority backgrounds believe racism is just a part of normal life for them and no Government plan will stop the racism they receive. This is truly sad.

A BBC report into racism in Wales found young people in general don't always feel safe when they leave their homes, out of fear of what might happen to them. The Welsh Government's plans are undermined by the reluctance of the police in Wales and England to acknowledge institutional racism within their organisations. This is despite complaints of young ethnic minorities suffering injuries during their time in police custody. 

Trust in public services, including Government policies, can often be heavily influenced by the relationship with enforcement agencies and services on the ground. Despite the BAME communities making up around 6 per cent of the Welsh population, only 3 per cent from ethnic minority backgrounds are appointed to public office positions. Within the general job market, employees from ethnic minority backgrounds earned 7.5 per cent less than their white counterparts. All these issues can have major implications for the mental and physical health of people of all ages from ethnic minorities. The notions of self worth and acceptance are things we all want. For ethnic minorities, these fears are sometimes a sad reality.

My question to the Minister is: the Welsh Government have made previous attempts to end racism and discrimination in Wales; with their new programme, can the Minister outline what they have done differently to prepare a plan to address the issues they have previously failed to solve? Thank you.

Well, thank you very much, Altaf Hussain, for your contribution and your questions. I started my statement by actually referring to that debate that we held last year, where we, the whole Senedd—. In fact, I remember speaking to Darren Millar about the motion that we all agreed, every party, as we did the year before. We did support that motion to wholeheartedly address the fight to root out racism and strive towards a more equal Wales. And I think this plan will help us actually deliver this. We can't have a debate every year without actually the kind of change that you know and that we know we have to address in terms of the racism that does blight people's lives in Wales. And that's why we've been very clear that this is an 'Anti-racist Wales Action Plan' and it's got a robust set of actions to help us make a real difference to the lives of people in Wales.

Now, this is a leadership issue; it's a representation issue. This morning we had 300 people join our virtual launch and there were people signing up to, for example, the zero tolerance of racism campaign, very much led by Race Council Cymru and the Wales TUC. We had people from all over Wales. North Wales Race Equality Network—Professor Robert Moore—has played a key role in ensuring that we have a pan-Wales approach to this, as well as all of the community organisations who we funded, with the community mentors in every part of Wales who actually contributed to getting these actions, these goals, into the plan. It's been developed collaboratively, together, with black, Asian and minority ethnic people and, if we do get this right, then we can become truly anti-racist.

We have to actually get rid of policies, systems, structures and processes that result in very different outcomes for ethnic minority people. I've already mentioned the fact that we have a rich contribution of black, Asian and minority ethnic people to our society, and it can be felt everywhere, in every sphere of life, but not enough has been done to ensure that all can play their part, and to have that opportunity and that confidence that they are not going to face barriers as they grow up, go through school, education, opportunities. It is important that we do have those goals and outcomes.

I think you have actually referred to issues around crime and justice. Now, this is not devolved. I co-chair the policing partnership board with First Minister, and I think it's very important that, in fact, working together, in terms of devolved and non-devolved, we're trying to address this, because the criminal justice in Wales anti-racism action plan, alongside our anti-racist action plan, is going to be crucial in terms of ensuring that our partners in criminal justice—. And, of course, we would rather we were responsible for justice, and are pursuing the case—and, indeed, for policing, as, not your party, but this Chamber supported only a few weeks ago. But I think, when this is published, you will welcome, I'm sure, the criminal justice anti-racism action plan, because it is those police and crime commissioners and chief constables who've agreed to take this approach, and what they would like to see is one public service approach to advance race equality across Wales.

I just want to say, in terms of hate crime, we fund the Wales hate support centre. It's run by Victim Support Cymru—24/7 support, advocacy and advice, and also it's the first service in the UK to offer a national children-and-young-person-friendly hate crime service. And, of course, the campaign, actually, is part of our Hate hurts Wales campaign, which we've looked at, and it's going to help us identify where we need to address issues. The campaign highlighted the hugely negative impact of hate crime on victims in their own lives, and also referred to the bystanders who actually do not call out the racism that we all know about. I think it's important that we do see that race hate crime is recorded in Wales, and that our national hate crime statistics did show an increase, but it also highlights why our work in this area is needed, and that's why our hate crime in schools project is so important and our community cohesion programme as well. So, this is where we feel that Wales will lead the way with our anti-racist action plan, and we want you to be part of this, and I'm sure you will be.

It's a sad fact, isn't it, that it took a global pandemic and a movement ignited by a horrific murder in the United States, that of George Floyd, to open the eyes of many in Wales to the blatant truth of race inequality and its devastating and too often deadly consequences—a truth lived by thousands of Welsh black, Asian and minority ethnic people, an everyday experience of living with prejudice, with disadvantage, with fear. So many reports, so much research, which many of us have quoted here in numerous debates, has demonstrated this truth and has shown why the approach and implementation of previous strategies were not sufficient.

The aims of the anti-racist action plan are without question welcome, and Plaid Cymru is proud to have been part of the work of forging the plan through our co-operation agreement with the Government. Hearing Professor Ogbonna speak about the groundbreaking approach of the plan at the launch this morning was a moment I won't forget. It made clear the potential of Wales as a nation to take an independent lead such as this in social justice. The sharpened focus within the plan on the need to actively tackle structural and institutional racism is vital if we are to see real and long-standing change—the institutional racism​ within organisations and overarching societal systems that results in inequitable outcomes and extends beyond the prejudice that can be more easily identified and rooted out.

I welcome the acknowledgement in the plan that we must do things differently if we want to see different results, and the need for goals to be set, be reviewed and monitored better to ensure agile, robust, tangible actions that will have a real effect on people's lives. Given that implementation has been identified as a major failing in past strategies, what will ensure accountability and transparency around the plan's measures and goals? Will the Minister ensure that the feedback of the external accountability group, for example, is made public in regular reports to the Senedd? How will the voices of ordinary people, ordinary communities, continue to be heard now that this plan has been published?

By 2030 the plan aims for our nation to be free of that hatred that scars, oppresses and defers dreams. We must recognise that it is not enough to ensure that the structural racism that exists in our society is eliminated; we must stop it from taking root in the first place. And it starts, I think, with our youngest citizens, who represent our future.

The requiring of reporting of racist incidents and harassment in schools and colleges through strengthened data collection is most welcome, therefore. But I'd like to understand why this will take until a year next September to change. The recent terrible and terrifying case of racist bullying of Raheem Bailey has shown the urgent need for the tackling of this problem in our schools, and without adequate reporting we are tackling this issue blind. So, what does the plan say to young people who could be maimed and scarred for life by these terrible experiences, who cannot wait for the effects of the new curriculum to educate and enlighten their peers, and with over a year to pass before the whole-school systems are put in place to begin the process that can effect real systemic change?

One of the measures to ensure that high-quality, consistent further education and adult learning is in place to meet the needs of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers is to commission a review of the English for speakers of other languages policy. Given the plan's recognition of the need to remove the barriers to Welsh-medium education for minority ethnic people, should this also include free Welsh language lessons?

The aim of increasing the number of minority ethnic people in public positions and elected office is also one that is vital to achieve anti-racist institutions and systems. The plan includes a measure to expand the access to elected office fund for the next local government elections in 2027. So, why doesn't the plan include measures to increase ethnic diversity and representation as part of the forthcoming Senedd reform measures, and will the Government advocate for doing this for the next Senedd elections?

Finally, the plan rightly places a firm focus on the criminal justice system as an area in which there is racial injustice as regards its treatment of, and the outcomes for, people from ethnic minorities. We know this in part due to the research of the Wales Governance Centre and others. So, can the Minister provide an update on what additional research work is required to ensure the plan delivers the required actions that should be taken in line with the aims of the plan and the commitment in the co-operation agreement?

The plan states that

'it is only when we have full oversight of the justice system in Wales that we will be able to fully align its delivery with the needs and priorities of minority ethnic communities of Wales...devolution of the police and the justice system is the most sustainable way of creating a justice system that is anti-racist and fully meets the diverse needs of people in Wales.'

This surely must be the ultimate aim of the plan. In the words of Coretta Scott King,

'It doesn't matter how strong your opinion are. If you don't use your power for positive change, you are indeed part of the problem.'

To truly tackle the hate and injustice that plagues, hampers and shames our society, and the systems that permit this, we must be united in using the power we have to take the power we need. Diolch.

Diolch. Thank you for such powerful statements, which indeed show just the strength of the coming together in our co-operation agreement, about the importance of strength, which I believe could come from across this Chamber, but it has to be delivered as a result of our joint commitment and the sharing of our goals and values in the co-operation agreement. I think it's important that it is expressed and publicly clear as a high-profile commitment, the 'Anti-racist Wales Action Plan', in both our programme for government and the co-operation agreement. I'm pleased that we've had productive discussions, you've had an opportunity to review the 'Anti-racist Wales Action Plan', and actually you've influenced the fact that crime and justice particularly are being addressed. I have responded to some of those points, in terms of our determination to—. Even though it isn't devolved, we are moving on with the Commission on Justice in Wales, the Thomas commission, but also there's the recent jointly signed report by the Counsel General and me, and we are progressing this in terms of the opportunities that we have to influence the justice system in Wales.

I think the importance, really, that you focus on a number of areas of policy is crucial, but it has to be about leadership. We decided, as a result of the consultation—extensive consultation—that race equality action is not enough; it has to be very clearly stated as an anti-racist action plan. People have to embrace and recognise, as we do in Government, the institutionalised and systemic racism that actually holds people back and affects every minute of every day of their lives. We've learned this from working with the people we've worked with in terms of the steering group, the Wales race forum, which actually I've been working with for many years, who called for this to be an action plan—not another strategy, but a plan with those goals and actions to take forward. 

So, leadership within Welsh Government and across the public sector is crucial, and the zero tolerance of racism throughout the public sector. And also, only two and a half years ago, we launched the diversity and equality strategy for our public appointments. It was called, 'Reflecting Wales in Running Wales'. We know we have a long way to go to reflect Wales in running Wales, but if we can see that change by 2030—. We have power over this, we can make those changes, but you need goals and actions to do this. We need to remove the barriers and we need to use all the levers that we've got.

There are many issues relating to education, which I know the Minister for Education and Welsh Language will be mentioning and responding to in his statement. But, we have remit letters, we have financial arrangements, and, importantly, as you said, we have a new accountability group—you'll have heard about that this morning. Professor Emmanuel Ogbonna, who helped take us to this point, co-chairing with the Permanent Secretary, has made it clear right from the start that we need that accountability. We need a new accountability group, and I can assure you that I will make sure that we feed back to the Senedd. I know that they will want to feed back, I'm sure, to committees and to the Senedd as well what their expectations are.

We'll take actions to tackle racism in terms of monitoring actions annually through the accountability group, but it won't be just for us. Actually, someone said this morning—one of the speakers said—that this is about community accountability as well; it's about the accountability of all those public sector bodies, and that, of course, includes all the statutory bodies, but also business as well. So, chairs of public bodies will be pressed to proactively champion diversity and inclusion, including a performance objective around anti-racism.

I think it's also very important just to look at some of those wider issues that you raise. For example, in terms of the hate crime and victim support centre, I've already mentioned, in terms of children and young people, that we've now got a new team working to address hate crime.

As far as Senedd reform is concerned, I'm really pleased that we can learn from that in terms of the special purpose committee report that we will be debating tomorrow, because of that recommendation that there should be a further inquiry into the merits and implications of quotas, for example, for characteristics other than gender. We have a lot to learn, but we could lead the way in the UK, and we can certainly help lead the way in terms of looking at these issues, and I know that there's strong support for that. Local government: now we've gone through the elections, I'll be meeting all local government leaders very shortly to talk about the anti-racist action plan.

One of the recommendations that came—finally, Deputy Llywydd—from the socioeconomic report on the impact of coronavirus on black, Asian and minority ethnic people was that we needed a race disparity unit in the Welsh Government. Well, we've got one now. It was set up and it's part of an equality evidence unit, but there is an issue about data, particularly data that is held by the UK Government. So, the Wales Governance Centre has done some pioneering work, particularly led by Robert Jones, who's actually exposed the disproportionate impact of criminal justice, particularly on black, Asian and minority ethnic people and women. Well, we are going to, again, address that through working together. We met just a couple of weeks ago to talk about the ways in which we can work together with the Wales Governance Centre and the equality, race and disability evidence unit. And a commitment to sharing the justice element of the anti-racism Wales action plan, as part of our co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru, and to start a conversation now about how we can work together, and, indeed, look to other research that will be helpful to this.

So, your commitment, your support is crucial for us to get this right, but you will have heard and seen this morning that there will be expectations, and the expectation on us as a Government has to be the key point. And I know that you will hold us to account, the people with lived experience of racism must and will hold us to account, and that's what we need to deliver on the anti-racist action plan.

And finally, Joyce Watson. 

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd, and I'm really pleased to have an opportunity to speak on the statement today, and I really, really do welcome it. If we're going to look at—and this plan is—ending institutional racism and systemic racism, then we clearly have to tackle those institutions where we find the prevalence. Of course, that will be in education and it will also be in health. We've seen the inequality within the system of women's health that came forward under COVID, which has already been mentioned just now.

And we have to look at sport. We all know that, in terms of football, black, Asian and minority ethnic players are heroes when they're scoring, but should they miss a penalty or something, the racial abuse that they suffer afterwards is somewhat appalling. So, we have to look at the positives and the contribution that is made. We have to change the narrative and we have to, without a doubt, move forward with that at all levels. We have to change minds, in my opinion, by changing the narrative, and the narrative all too often is one of being negative rather than being positive. So, I really do welcome this.

I'm reminded here today that we talk about, 'Me, you, other'; we need to start talking—

You need to ask a question.

—about 'us', and that is all of us.

Diolch yn fawr, Joyce Watson. You've absolutely spelled it out so clearly—this is about ending institutional racism. Therefore, we have to look at those institutions, including our own, and tackle that. I will leave it to the Deputy Minister, who I'm sure will be addressing the questions particularly in her portfolio around sport, and the education Minister on education. We thought it would be good to have several statements. This is not just for the Minister for Social Justice; indeed, every Minister could be standing up and making a statement today, because it's relevant to every Minister, and you'll see that in the action plan.

But, just quickly on health, I've already mentioned the contribution, the role and the experience of the health and social care workforce in terms of the role that they play, not just in the pandemic but always in our health service. They have exposed to us the inequities in the workforce, time and time again recognising that this is something where they haven't always been recognised and had a level playing field in terms of their opportunities. So, it is good that the Minister for health is establishing an NHS health inequalities group. This is going to particularly draw on lived experiences to identify the barriers that black, Asian and minority ethnic people have experienced in accessing health services. And, obviously, these are issues that we've been discussing in terms of access to women's health—this is very intersectional—in terms of the anti-racist action plan.

We need to ensure that we have anti-racist leadership and education in NHS Wales at every level and in every board, and we have to—it goes back to data—underpin this with data collection so that we have an evidence base for our progress.

I thank the Minister.