§ Lord Tebbitasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the number of people of black African, black Caribbean and Asian ethnic origins in prison are in proportion to the numbers of such people in the population at large; and whether they indicate any evidence of racism within the police or judiciary. [HL3170]
§ Lord RookerIn mid-2000, 2 per cent of prisoners were of black African ethnic origin compared to 0.8 per cent of the population of England and Wales; 7.5 per cent of prisoners were of black Caribbean origin compared to 1 per cent representation in the population as a whole; and 2.5 per cent of prisoners were Asian compared to 3.5 per cent in the population at large.
It is not possible to be certain of the causes of disproportionality between the prison and population figures.
The annual Home Office publication, Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System, provides a point of reference on ethnicity data.