Prejudice and discrimination are not uncommon within our society – and that includes the criminal justice system and related services. We believe that if the criminal justice system is to be effective it must deliver justice fairly and promote confidence in its performance.

Criminal justice agencies work hard to meet these standards and Nacro works with partners across the system to promote equality and diversity in practice and enhance prison regimes in meeting the needs of all prisoners.

A key area of our equalities work focuses on issues of race and ethnicity, as it is well documented that members of black and minority ethnic (BME) groups – particularly those from black communities – are disproportionately represented in all areas of the criminal justice system. We also work to ensure that the needs of girls and women are properly met.

Our equalities work includes:

• working closely with the National Offender Management Services (NOMS), prisons and probation, and the Ministry of Justice and other government departments to influence policy and promote positive ways of working
• carrying out research, evaluation and consultancy projects
• writing policy papers and reports, and disseminating their findings
• supporting good practice in prisons and probation through developing and delivering training that addresses the needs of NOMS pathways
• supporting NOMS to develop specifications for services that reduce reoffending