Race issues sidelined since probation service shake-up, says watchdog

Racist offenders get unexpectedly assigned to BAME staff and racial slurs dismissed as banter', hear inspectors

Perpetrators of racist crimes are being allocated to black, Asian and minority ethnic probation officers without warning, inspectors have said, as they warned that issues of race had been sidelined in the sector.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) found that the service's focus on racial equality had declined since disastrous privatisation changes were introduced in 2014 by the then justice secretary, Chris Grayling.