Black people in Kingston are more likely to be homeless and stopped by police than white people, according to newly released figures, which also show an increase in racist and religious hate crime.

Race equality thinktank The Runnymede Trust has analysed figures in Kingston, Sutton and Croydon to compile a Race Equality Scorecard, which they said shows a ‘mixed picture’.

While the report found that Indian students did better at GCSE (91 per cent five A* to C grades) than white students (71 per cent), it also found low attainment by black Caribbean children (57 per cent) and black African pupils (65 per cent).

The Runnymede Trust also found that black people in Kingston are six times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people. The thinktank said this is proportionally higher than Croydon, which has seen a large fall in stop and search (2.7 times), and Sutton (3.4 times).

Black (African and Caribbean) people are over eight times more likely to be homeless and in priority need of rehousing than White people.

Asian people are almost three times as likely. Overall the BME figure is in line with the London average, but the Runnymede Trust said it is ‘still an alarming level of racial disparity’.

Kingston has also seen a 24 per cent rise in racist and religious hate crime, according to the latest figures which cover 2015 to 2016, which is higher than Sutton (16 per cent) and Croydon (15 per cent).

John Azah, CEO at Kingston Race and Equalities Council: “Kingston Race and Equalities Council (KREC) was one of the first three London boroughs to be approached by the Runnymede Trust to participate in the Race Equality Scorecard.

“KREC is honoured to be part of this innovative programme which looks at Race Equality in Kingston and its impact on the identified indicators which affect Black Asian and Minority Ethnic communities.

“The Scorecard enables Kingston to critically analyse data and to use this information to address and improve areas where we need to make extra efforts to address the challenges we face at this of continuous demographic changes.

“This is a great piece of work and we are proud to be part of it”.

Farah Elahi, Research and Policy Analyst at the Runnymede Trust, said: “The Runnymede Trust has worked closely with Kingston Race Equality Council and the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames to map ethnic inequality across the borough. The report highlights clear and persistent gaps between ethnic minority groups in the borough, which require targeted interventions to close.

We hope the Kingston Race Equality Scorecard will be a resource for organisations and individuals working to address racial inequality in the borough. It is the start of a necessary and ongoing conversation about holding public services to account and taking the steps to build a more equal cohesive society.”