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Who gets to shape justice reform? The prison population may fall. Will racial injustice?

Justice

Who gets to shape justice reform? The prison population may fall. Will racial injustice?

Jake Ferguson, BM4C · 9 October 2026

The Sentencing Act must be judged not only by prison places freed up, but by whether Black and Global Majority communities see fairer decisions, better support and less harm. For HMPPS, under a new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, a new Lord Chancellor, Alex Norris and new Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice, Catherine McKinnell, it is an opening and a test.

We have heard the promises before. A review names the disparity. A monitoring tool measures part of it. A small team is asked to carry a system-wide problem. Then the cycle begins again. HMPPS still lacks a cross-HMPPS Race Equity Strategy with clear ownership, funded delivery and independent scrutiny.

That is why collective action matters. The organisations that came together to develop recommendations for Lord Timpson showed what becomes possible when BGM and by-and-for organisations, alongside sector infrastructure bodies, develop a shared case and ask institutions to respond to it.

This work does not start from scratch. It builds on decades of work by these same organisations to influence HMPPS’s race agenda. This nascent BGM collective of organisations isn’t claiming ownership of the race equity space or replacing each organisation’s own work, but it is attempting to instil collective action. The proposed BGM Collective is a working title, not a finished organisation. Its purpose, voice and ways of working must be shaped by the sector. It should be independent and sector-led, representative in practice, properly resourced and built for action, with a clear account of who has participated and where it does not speak for everyone.

We will be bringing you more updates about this emerging BGM Collective in future editions of the BGM Briefing as the work develops.

So how did this proposed race equity strategy for HMPPS come about?

The conversation began in January this year, ten years on from the Young Review, when Clinks and Action for Race Equality brought together HMPPS officials and sector leaders. At the Clinks conference in February, Black Men 4 Change asked leaders across BGM communities, youth justice, women’s services, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, and rehabilitation the same question. Their answer was clear: community expertise is invited late, asked to fix gaps, then kept away from power and budget.

In May, organisations including Spark 2 Life, the Zahid Mubarek Trust, Action for Race Equality, Clinks, the Alliance for Youth Justice and Friends, Families and Travellers came together. They wrote to Lord Timpson calling for a cross-HMPPS Race Equity Strategy, a Race Equity Board with independent scrutiny, commissioning reform and meaningful accountability across adult and youth justice.

This is a question of money and power. The Act will depend on community provision, yet too many by-and-for organisations remain outside the contracts, supply chains and rooms where delivery is designed. Fair commissioning, paid expertise and real influence must be part of implementation.

At June’s RR3 meeting, senior HMPPS officials welcomed the presentation and invited further conversation. They also acknowledged that a strategy covering adult and youth justice needs ministerial engagement and time. The test now is whether shared priorities lead to accountability. If you are a by-and-for organisation, practitioner or someone with lived experience, bring what you know and the questions officials are not hearing. The BGM Briefing is not the collective’s voice, but it can make collective work visible.

To view the collective’s proposal for an HMPPS race equity strategy, read Race Equity and the Sentencing Act: A Collective Call for Change.

If you’re interested in being part of the emerging BGM Collective, get in touch with BM4C.

To find out more about RR3 and its role, get in touch with BM4C.

Sources and references

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