Anti-racist Wales

Inquiry4

The Welsh Government’s Anti-racist Wales Action Plan states its purpose is to “make a measurable difference to the lives of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people” and sets out a vision of an anti-racist Wales by 2030.

On 20 March 2023, the Equality and Social Justice Committee held an evidence-gathering roundtable session with stakeholders to identify key priorities in relation to the implementation of the Anti-racist Wales Action Plan. Stakeholders highlighted issues around the overall implementation and delivery of the plan and raised concerns in policy areas such as health, education, housing, crime and justice. Read the summary of the stakeholder sessions conducted in March 2023 for more.

The Committee agreed to explore these issues further by holding an inquiry into the implementation of the Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan .

Terms of reference

The terms of reference for the inquiry were to:

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>>>Consider the effectiveness of Welsh Government actions to deliver the plan, including what is being done to ‘lead by example’ in taking a pro-active and cross-governmental approach to racism.

>>>Consider progress and monitoring arrangements for the Plan, including the role of the public sector (local authorities, health, education), third sector and where applicable, the private sector.

>>>Examine the progress of the Racial Disparity Unit, and determine whether there are gaps in data collection and analysis of data is being carried out effectively.

>>>Explore what channels of communication has been established to ensure people with lived experience are informed of the plan’s progress and what changes are happening as a result of the plan.

>>>Evaluate the effectiveness of the Plan in its first year, including whether actions have been delivered, what the key outcomes have been so far and to determine why any outstanding actions have not been implemented.

>>>Help further understanding of what other interventions are needed to support delivery of the plan and whether there are barriers to implementing the plan.

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Given the importance of intersectionality, the inquiry also considered how people’s intersecting identities had been taken into account when developing and implementing the Plan.

Evidence gathering

The deadline for submitting written evidence was 6 October 2023. You can see the written submissions that we received on our consultation page.

Oral evidence was gathered from a variety of witnesses during the Autumn Term 2023 and on 4 December the Committee held an evidence session with the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip, Jane Hutt MS.

Report 

The Committee laid its report  ‘Actions, not words: towards ‍an anti-racist Wales by 2030’ (PDF, 1545KB) on Friday 15 March.

“The Welsh Government has set itself the aim of an anti-racist Wales by 2030, a mere six years hence. That requires us to be active, not passive. To resist, rather than resign ourselves to racial discrimination. And to recognise that it is time for action, not words.”