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No one working in public services today can turn a blind eye to racism or inequality. Every single public service, every single public body - all forty three thousand of them - have to positively promote race equality and better race relations.

It takes more than a Government to change society. It takes individuals, like Doreen Lawrence who is with us this morning, and many others in this room who pressed for the changes which led to the Race Relations Amendment Act in 2000. In turn, this has utterly changed the standards that Black and Minority Communities can expect from public services - whether in education, in health care, or in the criminal justice system.

For example, each and every school now has a race equality programme, complemented by national programmes like the Black Pupils Attainment Strategy. This has helped thousands of students to achieve their potential.

Because of this, we have virtually eliminated the gap between Bangladeshi pupils and their peers at GCSE level, while Black Caribbean pupils have also made enormous strides forward.

We have in invested in hundreds of community organisations to build up their leadership capacity and support their local contribution. In July, I committed nearly £9 million to help this invaluable work.

We have also promoted diversity across the public sector - so there are more Black and Minority Ethnic people in senior leadership positions in the Civil Service than ever before.

And we have concentrated our attention on the police and the criminal justice system, where we know that some of the challenges are most acute. We have made sure that the police take race and hate crimes as seriously as they should; we have changed the way that the police are recruited and trained.

As a result - though I would be the first to admit there is a long way to go - Black and Minority Ethnic communities are now better represented in the police force and other criminal justice services and increasingly confident that they will be treated fairly.

At the same time, this is a Government which has championed equality for all. Which has introduced civil partnerships; a duty to promote equality for the disabled, protection from discrimination on the grounds of ageism or sexual orientation and outlawed religious discrimination and incitement to religious hatred.

A Government which has worked tirelessly to raise incomes, reduce poverty and tackle inequality. Which introduced tax credits and the minimum wage; created sure start, rescued apprenticeships, expanded university places; and turned around some of our most deprived communities.

You know better than anyone else how important this has been - and just what a difference this has made in communities up and down the country.

You have championed the cause of racial equality - you have constructively challenged us to keep this a top priority.

You have used your work in schools, in businesses, in local communities to tell us what is really happening, what works and where there are still real issues.

And perhaps most importantly, you have helped inspire and support individuals to break through the obstacles they face and realise their potential.

It is enormously important work, which I am hugely grateful for.

I know that some people have had worries that work to combat racism and promote race equality has dropped down the agenda.

I have said this before, but I think it is worth restating: nothing could be further from the truth.

All my Cabinet colleagues share a total commitment to this work as part of our wider efforts to build a society free of bigotry and intolerance, prejudice and discrimination.

We will not weaken our focus, we will not lessen our resolve until we have realised that goal.

There are those who say that you can't afford programmes like this in a downturn - that tackling inequality is a distraction.

I say exactly the opposite. We cannot afford the inequality and discrimination at work which restricts opportunities, wastes talent, and sets artificial limits on people's careers and prospects.

We also know that there are some persistent and challenging issues which have not yet been fully addressed.

The experience of Black boys and young Black men is one of the most important - they are still three times as likely to be excluded from school as their peers, and this has a knock on effect on their achievement.

The criminal justice system - and particular, stop and search - continues to be controversial.

And we all have to be vigilant and alert to the possible impact of the recession, to ensure that it does not undo the progress of the last decade.

So it's vital that we continue to build on what's been achieved over the past decade. But we've also got to recognise that the context for what we are doing has changed.

For example, there is a growing appreciation of the ways in which racism interacts with other factors - like economics, religious identity, and migration - to undermine community stability and lead to communities living separate and parallel lives.

Migration has also had a big impact on the debate about race in Britain.

In some places we've seen antipathy against Eastern Europeans or Muslims becoming more acceptable - justified on the grounds of religious difference but manifesting itself in terms of racial prejudice and gaining a political voice through far right groups.

And finally, there has been a renewed recognition of the importance of class.

We know, for example, that ethnic minorities are twice as likely to be poor - and it that poverty, or poverty and race together - which holds them back.

That means it is no longer enough to make simple judgements or assumptions which equate 'race' with disadvantage.

That would overlook, for example, the striking achievements of Indian and Chinese students - but it would also overlook the fact that white working class boys are struggling to keep up.

It would overlook the growing Black and Asian middle class - and the fact that they are now coming up against the old problems in new settings.

Instead, we need to appreciate and understand the ways in which race interacts with other social factors - especially class - to influence and shape people's lives.

So rather than reducing our efforts to tackle racism, we have got to be more nuanced in what we are doing.

Making sure that our efforts are tackling today's problems, in a world we have begun to change.

We've got to continue to promote equality for all and combine that with efforts to address the specific challenges faced by particular groups.

It is that approach which is at the heart of the Government's new Equalities bill - a group which does not single out any particular group for special treatment or prioritise one over another, but which is about promoting equality for everyone, across the country.

It will require every public service to offer a decent service to everyone, regardless of their background, rather than addressing the needs of different groups separately. And it will mean we can concentrate on improving outcomes - not processes: real action, not ticking boxes.

Today's race statement therefore

    * reminds us what has been achieved over the past decade
    * acknowledges that increasingly rich picture
    * and sets out a comprehensive response to those issues.

Let me briefly summarise it.

Firstly, I think there is broad agreement on the importance of a strong legal framework in which to tackle racism and promote race equality - and the Equality Bill will build on that.

But those laws are only effective if they are put into practice, and so it is vital that public services live up to their responsibilities and following both the spirit and the letter of the law.

So we will work with all those charged with inspecting public bodies to make sure that public services are complying with their duties and obligations.

And we will work with the EHRC as it intervenes in legal cases to uphold the law. I am delighted that Simon, their newly appointed commissioner responsible for race is able to join us this morning and look forward to hearing from him.

Second, I and my Department will continue to challenge other Departments across Government to promote race equality in everything they do - whether in health, education, employment, or the criminal justice system. CLG will lead from the front in its work on housing, regeneration and civic participation. We are setting out in detail in this document many actions which are already being taken across Government.

The challenge which we are putting to all public service providers is to show leadership on this issue - and make promoting race equality a part of their every day business.

This isn't just a task for the organisations diversity representative or the person who has 'promoting race equality' in their job title - it is a task for everyone.

Thirdly, we will continue to target our efforts to overcome the particular problems different groups face.

The REACH programme - which many have you have been involved in - is making an incredible difference to the lives of many Black boys and young Black men from around the country. Led by the Black community, a response to the challenges they themselves have identified, with the solutions they wanted, this is a model which we can learn a lot from.

We want to work with all our partners to use the Tackling Race Inequalities Fund to help replicate this success for other groups.

I also want to give you a commitment to being as open as possible with you, and make sure that you continue to be part of the discussion about the way forward. We'll be holding two conferences later in the Spring to keep that conversation going and to feedback on progress.

Over the past decade, Britain has changed immeasurably for the better. We've become a society much more comfortable with diversity than ever before.

A society which isn't half-heartedly tolerant of difference but which positively welcomes and embraces diversity as a strength.

We've seen the first Black cabinet member. The first Muslim cabinet member. Countless individual stories of success which reflect growing diversity within public and professional life.

We cannot yet say that we are a society wholly free of prejudice, discrimination and inequality.

But we can say that we are a Government which will not rest until we have built that society.

Today's document renews our commitment to achieving that end. I look forward to working with you to achieve that goal.

(This is an abridged version of a recent speech delivered by the Secretary of State)