§ Mr. Peter BottomleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will arrange for regular surveys of the police and other public services to monitor progress towards equal satisfaction with those services among black and other minority ethnic groups. [100027]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeSo far as the police service is concerned, my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary set a Ministerial Priority in June to increase trust and confidence in policing among minority ethnic communities in line with Recommendation 1 of the Macpherson report. Recommendation 2 of that report proposed a range of performance indicators for assessing achievement of the Priority, which included achieving equal satisfaction levels across all ethnic groups in public satisfaction surveys. The Steering Group which my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary chairs to oversee the implementation of the Action Plan published in March as the Government's response to the Macpherson report, approved at its October meeting proposals for the development of indicators in line with Recommendation 2 including satisfaction surveys. Further work is currently being undertaken on the development of this indicator.
For other public services, the Home Office is committed to the establishment of government-wide and departmental performance indicators to measure improvements in race equality. Work is currently being undertaken on the development of these indicators which are likely to include measures of confidence in public services. The performance indicators will be announced in Spring 2000.