Policing in England and Wales has struggled with increasing ethnic diversity within its ranks. Based on the 2011 census some 14% of the population of England and Wales are from ethnic minority groups, but in 2019 only 6.9% of serving police officers were from these backgrounds.12 The Department told us that, while there were no targets for ethnic minority recruitment, since the Programme began, the proportion of new recruits from these groups had increased from 10.3% of new recruits to almost 13%. It explained that, as a result, 8% of all police officers who reported their ethnicity were from ethnic minority groups. However, it also admitted that female and ethnic minority candidates are most likely to withdraw from the process.13 Again, there are examples of some forces doing particularly well with West Midlands Police seeing 19.4 per cent of all new recruits being from an ethnic minority background. 7 Q45; Home Affairs Select Committee, The Macpherson Report: Twenty-two years on, HC 139, 30 July 2021, para 2.16–2.17 8 C&AG’s Report, paras 2.11, 2.13 9 Home Office, Police officer uplift, England and Wales, quarterly update to 31 March 2022, published 27 April