Black people were three times more likely to receive Covid fines in England and Wales

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Fines during the pandemic were three times more likely to be given to black people and seven times more likely to be issued in the poorest areas, research commissioned for Britain’s police chiefs has revealed.

The study covering England and Wales showed racial disparity for every single force. In one area, people from minority ethnic backgrounds were up to eight times more likely to be fined. It presents further evidence of ethnic disparity in the use of police powers. Most forces deny they are institutionally racist, as does the government.

The report was commissioned by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and conducted by academics at the University of Edinburgh. The NPPC did not publish the findings, to the surprise of those who produced it.

It is the most detailed analysis yet of who got fined and the fairness of how police used the emergency powers to enforce rules that changed numerous times, with officers operating in far from ideal conditions.

Last week Boris Johnson, the prime minister during the Covid lockdowns, was reported to police by the Cabinet Office for potential breaches of the rules for which he could receive a fixed-penalty notice (FPN).

The study looked at the period from 27 March 2020 to 31 May 2021, when 122,506 fines were issued. In England, people from ethnic minorities were on average more than twice as likely than white people to be fined, with the rate even higher for black people. .

The study said: “In England, the rate of FPNs per 10,000 people from an ethnic minority background was 46.1, compared to 19.9 for white individuals, reflecting an ethnic disparity rate of 2.3.

“The ethnic disparity rate in England was highest for people from a black ethnic background, who were 3.2 times more likely to be issued with an FPN.”

In Wales the ethnic disparity was 2.8 times for people from ethnic minorities, and virtually identical for black people.

The report’s co-author Prof Susan McVie said: “There was not a single force area that did not have a higher disparity rate for ethnic minority groups.”

The disparity varied widely. In Warwickshire people from ethnic minorities were 1.4 times more likely to be fined than white people, but in Cumbria it was 8.4 times. However, it may be that tourists increased the Cumbria number because analysis of fines for its resident population saw a disparity rate of 2.3 times.

McVie said: “It is plausible that they stood out as not white, in police force areas where they do not have a high ethnic minority population. They looked out of place as police may not have been used to seeing black or Asian faces in that area.”

The study found the highest rate of disparity was not for young minority-ethnic people, who experience higher rates of stop and search powers, but middle-aged people over 45.

McVie said: “It does raise the question about the extent to which officer discretion may have led to conscious or unconscious bias in policing practice.”

Compared with their resident populations, people from ethnic minorities were five times more likely to be fined than white people in the West Midlands, and 1.7 times more likely in the Met police area covering London. Other data shows a big increase in stop and search by the Met during the first lockdown.

Last year a University of Liverpool study based on interviews with officers said bias may explain in part the ethnic disparity.

Andy George, the president of the National Black Police Association, said: “The research highlights yet again that policing has a systemic issue with racism which needs to be admitted and dealt with.”

The study also found people living in the poorest areas were more likely to receive fines than those in the wealthiest areas. The report said: “In England, FPN recipients were 7.2 times more likely to be living in one of the 10% most deprived [areas] than one of the 10% least deprived [areas] during period one. This reduced to 3.9 in period two, before increasing again to 4.7 in period three.

“The reduction in the disparity between those living in the most and the least deprived areas of England and Wales suggests that there was a widening in the social spectrum of the population that the police were dealing with around compliance over time.”

McVie said: “People were scunnered [fed up] by their neighbours breaking the rules, so called the police.”

The frequency of fines varied hugely among the 43 forces, each of which is operationally independent, but with the NPCC trying to ensure a consistency of approach.

In England the average rate was 20 fines per 10,000 of resident population, with rates lowest in Humberside (7.1/10,000) and West Midlands (7.8) but seven times higher in Merseyside (47.9) and North Yorkshire (49.4).

Men were twice as likely to be fined and for the general population half of all fines went to those aged 18 to 24, four times their share of the population.

Despite commissioning the study, police did not publish it. McVie said: “I was surprised they did not publish it having commissioned and paid for it.”

The NPCC lead for enforcing Covid rules, the assistant chief constable Owen Weatherill, said: “It is clearly a concern to see a disparity between the number of FPNs issued to white and Black, Asian or ethnic minority people.

“But what the data is not able to show us is why these disparities exist. Each force will look at this data carefully to assess and mitigate any risks of bias – conscious or unconscious – and to minimise disproportionate impact in the future, wherever possible.”

Policing claims it is committed to a race action plan, triggered by the mass protests after the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in the US in May 2020. Critics say that, three years on, policing in the UK has achieved little or nothing.

Weatherill said: “Policing is determined to achieve tangible progress that delivers on our commitment to become an anti-racist service and the findings of this report will be further considered as part of that work.”