Youth Select Committee calls on Government to tackle racism and religious discrimination

• Read the Report: Young people and the issues of racism and religious discrimination

Report

The report, launched as part of Parliament Week, considers both written and oral evidence and concludes that people's attitudes towards racism and religious discrimination have become normalised and there is ambiguity surrounding what constitutes such behaviour. It stresses that the Government needs to do more to define racism and religious discrimination as well as to raise awareness of what these definitions actually mean in practice. The enquiry was triggered after the issue topped a British Youth Council poll of 969,992 young people in the UK.
 
Evidence was gathered from a range of witnesses, including charities, young people, academics, and education professionals. The Committee offers recommendations across three key areas: awareness and education in schools, tackling racism and religious discrimination in communities, how to oversee tackling racism and religious discrimination.

Key recommendations

• That the Government Equalities Office should have a separate Minister who heads up its work and works exclusively on the Government's work tackling discrimination, including racism and religious discrimination, and promoting equality and diversity. This Minister should have the right to attend Cabinet.
• That an Advisory Group should be established which comprises representatives of the relevant Government departments, at Ministerial and official level, service providers (including schools), representatives of Local Authorities, community groups, race groups, religious groups, and young people. This Advisory Group should be chaired by the Minister with overall responsibility within Government for tackling racism and religious discrimination.
• That the Government work with young people, the police and race and religion organisations to agree definitions of racism and religious discrimination within six months and publicise these on gov.uk, through social media and in schools.
• That PSHE should be a compulsory subject in schools, with protected classroom time and statutory guidance. To develop a balanced and appropriate syllabus with a clear system to ensure quality across schools, the Government should undertake a consultation within the next 12 months with teachers, representative teaching, faith, race and community organisations, parents and young people, on the teaching and content of PSHE, including whether young people should be required to sit a GCSE in PSHE.

Report Launch

The Report was launched at an event in the Grimond Room, Portcullis House on 16 November at 17.30 and attended by Youth Select Committee members and witnesses, as well as Edward Timpson MP, Minister of State for Vulnerable Children and Families.

Chair's comment

 Bronagh Hughes, 18, Chair of the Youth Select Committee said:

"Throughout our extensive inquiry into racism and religious discrimination, it became apparent to the Committee that racism and religious discrimination remained prevalent in the lives of many young people living in the UK. The UK's decision to leave the EU brought this issue to the forefront of political discussion following the Post-Brexit surge in hate crime that surfaced. Moving forward, we must ensure this is high on the agenda for decision makers so we can make positive steps to combat both racism and religious discrimination. The Committee is really keen on hearing the Government's response to our recommendations."

Further information:

The Youth Select Committee is a British Youth Council initiative, supported by the House of Commons. The Committee has eleven committee members aged 14-19 and includes Members of the Youth Parliament (MYPs), youth councillors, a young mayor and one elected representative from each of the devolved nations.

The Youth Select Committee has eleven committee members aged 15-19, and includes Members of the Youth Parliament (MYPs), youth councillors, a young mayor and one elected representative from each of the devolved nations. It is a British Youth Council initiative, supported by the House of Commons. 

'Tackling racism and religious discrimination' was chosen as the priority campaign of the UK Youth Parliament at its annual House of Commons debate on 13 November 2015, and the topic was debated again in this year's debate on 11 November 2016.