Hello,

Welcome to the latest round-up of news from the Race Disparity Unit (RDU).

New and updated pages

• Health: Detentions under the Mental Health Act, Use of NHS mental health, learning disability and autism services
• Workforce and business: Social workers for children and families
• Work, pay and benefits: People in low income households

Inclusive Britain updates

Ethnicity facts and figures reform – have your say

We have launched a public consultation on proposals to reform the Ethnicity facts and figures website. This work is to fulfil a commitment made in Inclusive Britain (action 8).

The consultation proposes 3 changes to help users understand the factors behind disparities, minimising the risk of misinterpretation and incorrect conclusions.

You can respond until 7 August 2022. Read a blog post which gives an overview of the proposed changes.
 

Offences against emergency workers – increased penalties

Section 2 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 became law on 28 June 2022. This provision increases the maximum penalty for common assault and battery offences committed against emergency workers from 12 months’ imprisonment to 2 years.

This is action 66 in Inclusive Britain.
 

News in brief

Darren Stillwell, Head of Quality and Standards at the Equality Hub, published a blog post about attributing ethnicity using someone's name.

Darren talks about the strengths and weaknesses of this approach, and explains how research shows that using someone’s name to assign their ethnicity can help fill gaps when ethnicity data is not readily available.