PRESS RELEASE: DATE 12.11.

2012

IMPROVING BLACK AND MINORITY ETHNIC GROUPS EXPERIENCE OF LONDON PROBATION SERVICES
Contact: 159 Clapham Road, London SW9 0PU, E: Dr Theo Gavrielides T: 020 7820 0945 T.Gavrielides@iars.org.uk

The London Probation Trust has partnered with IARS, an independent think-tank, in a bid to improve service outcomes for Black and minority ethnic (BME) offenders. The programme includes a research project and two events the first of which will be held on the 15th November 2012 (at the London Probation Trust Head Office, 151 Buckingham Palace Road, SW1W 9SZ). Janett Brown, Head of Equalities and Community Engagement at the London Probation Trust, said: As a key criminal justice agency we have a duty and commitment to ensure the services we provide are effective, up-to-date and use best practice. In so doing, we have asked IARS to carry out some critical research, which will review our current policies and practices and will enable our staff to better engage with BME offenders and to ensure that our services and interventions are improved for all. BME groups continue to be disproportionately represented in sentencing and custody. Despite progress in recent years, there is still a long way to go in addressing persistent inequalities and systemic discrimination. Prof. Dr. Gavrielides, IARS Founder and Director, said: One of IARS' central beliefs is founded upon the concept of community, moving citizens from the margins into the heart of problem solving. This is why this project is of great interest to us and I want to congratulate London Probation for commissioning an independent review of their services. Both of the leaders of the project, Janette Brown and Dr. Theo Gavrielides, will be speaking at the event, along with Professor Gus John, Dr Richard Stone OBE and Dr. Margaret Greenfields. Prof. Gus John, said: This important conference comes at a time when the already disproportionate number of BME people, young men especially, in the prison system is still increasing in the aftermath of the civil unrest in August 2011. The system is creaking and London Probation cannot hope to meet ever growing demands and challenges. The conference gives a unique opportunity for the Trust to examine empirical evidence and forge new ways of working with communities in relation to prevention, reducing reoffending and successfully reintegrating that lost generation into purposeful living in civil society. The projects findings will be published launched at a public event in early 2013. Updates on the project and the event can be accessed via http://iars.org.uk/content/bme-probation Ends. -----------Notes to Editors

1. Contact: Dr. Theo Gavrielides, 159 Clapham Road, London SW9 0PU Office line: 020 8133 8317, Office Mobile: 07833224442 / 07546940042, email contact@iars.org.uk, Twitter @_IARS_ , Facebook, @IARSCommunity. 2. IARS is a leading, international think-tank with a charitable mission to give everyone a chance to forge a safer, fairer and more inclusive society. It achieves its charitable aims by producing evidence-based solutions to current social problems, sharing best practice and by supporting young people to shape decision making. IARS is an international expert in restorative justice, human rights and inclusion, citizenship and user-led research. 3. The London Probation Trust is the largest of the 35 probation trusts across England and Wales, employing nearly 3,000 staff across London. London Probation Trusts role is to reduce reoffending and make London safer, together with other criminal justice agencies, such as the Police, Prisons and Courts. It works directly with offenders to tackle the causes of their offending behaviour, enable them to turn their lives around and, where possible, rehabilitate them back into the community.