Minutes - draft

These minutes are draft and are to be agreed.

Minutes of the meeting of the Equalities & Diversity Sub-committee of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 14 April 2011 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Kirsten Hearn (Chair)
• Cindy Butts
• Clive Lawton

MPA officers

• Jane Harwood (Deputy Chief Executive)
• Fay Scott (Head of Equalities and Engagement)
• Michael Wadham (Policy Development Officer)
• Bennett Obong (Policy Officer)
• Thomas Foot (Committee Officer)

MPS Officers

• Lee Tribe (Director of Procurement)
• Fay Davis (Supplier Diversity and Environmental Manager)
• Denise Milani (Director of Diversity and Citizen Focus)
• Charles Griggs (Borough Commander, Bromley)
• John Wilson (Diversity and Citizen Focus advisor)
• Alfred John (Black Police Association)

Others in attendance

• Doug Lewins
• Marie Stewart (Taylor-Stewart Associates)
• John Howard (De Beauvoir Safer Neighbourhood Group)
• Councillor Melvin Collins (London Borough of Hounslow)
• Tayo Disu (Lewisham Community Police Consultative Group)
• Brenda Thompson (Bromley Community Engagement Forum)
• Isis Amlak (Kensington and Chelsea CPEG)
• Yvonne MacNamara (Irish Traveller Movement in Britain)
• Lucy Beckett (Traveller Law Reforms Project)
• Frieda Schicker (London Gypsy and Traveller Unit)

23. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

23.1 Apologies were received from Amanda Sater (MPA Member), Vicky Kielinger (MPS Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate), Anita Jakhu (Brent Community Safety Board), Tim Fellows (Enfield Community Police Partnership) and Sonoo Malkani (Harrow Community Police Consultative Group)

23.2 The Chair opened the meeting, outlining housekeeping and fire safety procedure. At this meeting standing orders are suspended to allow members of the public to speak on the subjects covered.

24. Declarations of interests

(Agenda item 2)

24.1 No declarations of interest were made.

25. Minutes: Equality and Diversity Sub-committee - 10 February 2011

(Agenda item 3)

25.1 The minutes of the last meeting were agreed to be a correct record. The Chair noted that the actions had been completed and copies of the public responses could be distributed to interested parties at their request.

26. Equality and Diversity implications of responsible management

(Agenda item 4)

26.1 The MPS informed members that procurement services are responsible for a budget of £850 million per annum. They noted a number of successes, including achieving level five against the flexible framework and being awarded the Mayor of London’s gold status (and best in the GLA Group). Various suppliers and individual procurement officers have also been recognized.

26.2 They went on to note that 80% of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) suppliers were being paid within 10 days and that the MPS remains on target in relation to this target. Furthermore, all of their contractors pay the London living wage.

26.3 Members were informed of recent innovations within the department, notably the introduction of CompeteFor for all contracts of between £500 and £50,000. However, the MPS target in relation to Diversity Works was over achieved – although 13 suppliers have signed up.

26.4 The Chair was informed that in addition to the annual expenditure of £850 million capital expense was around £100 million. It is likely that spending will reduce to £750 million shortly. She was told that the MPS have 12000 suppliers on their books, although only 3000 are currently active. Beyond confirming that 25% of their suppliers are SMEs, the MPS were unable to give a profile of the diversity of their suppliers. From Summer 2011 onwards Procurement Services will ask for diversity data (including whether the business is BME or women-led, for instance) as will CompeteFor.

26.5 A member asked whether the department had any relations with associations that represent black businesses, to which the MPS responded that procurement law is governed by the principle of equality and transparency. The Chair cautioned that consultation need not be geared toward reverse discrimination in awarding contracts but alerting groups to the opportunities that are available.

26.6 A member welcomed the work of Procurement Services, and noted the importance of 10 day payments for many SMEs. He asked who was responsible for setting the targets contained within the four year responsible procurement strategy, to ensure that they are suitably robust and stretching. The MPS responded that these are agreed by the GLA responsible procurement team (who engage with the MPS) and that they are reviewed over the three years to ensure that they are current. They informed the Sub Committee that they are now considering benchmarking opportunities.

26.7 A member expressed disappointment that the MPS have not got further with regard the diversity of suppliers, given that increasing this was one of the stated aims of then Mayor Livingstone. She asked whether the Safer London Foundation could be used to push any of this work forward.

26.8 The MPS offered to meet with Cindy Butts to discuss joint working with the Safer London Foundation. She replied that she would be happy to do so but asked the MPS offer more than reassurance to the Sub-Committee and seek to outline an action-orientated approach to change. The MPS responded that CompeteFor will open up procurement to make it more accessible to all. They expressed regret that the Equality Act 2010 was not more directive on this area.

26.9 Members asked to receive an MPS communications strategy that seeks to make sure organisations are made aware of the procurement opportunities available.

Action: MPS to develop a communication strategy which outlines procurement opportunities.

26.10 Doug Lewins stated that the legislative mandate for action was there, in the form of a duty to ‘promote’ equality and diversity. Other guests agreed that this requires a proactive approach to increasing engagement. Alfred John agreed, and mentioned that as London’s largest employer, procurement in the MPS has a city wide impact. He agreed with the Chair that not every person is as networked as the next, and this is what must be addressed. He also suggested that procurement staff and staff that use procurement services should be given training.

26.11 John Howard asked a broader question about entry into the police service, to which a member responded that there are a number of ways in, including: as a PCSO, a Special, a Cadet, and through officer training. It was noted that the MPA had held a symposium on multi-point entry and that work in relation to this was ongoing.

26.12 Fay Scott summed up the discussion and suggested that a useful action would be to 'beef-up' the equalities aspect of the pre-qualification questionnaire (see paragraph 31 of the report), to define a history of discrimination within the supplier, for instance. Perhaps a statement of expectations should also be agreed by all providers. She noted that CompeteFor would be critical but work must be done to ensure people are aware of it and able to access it.

27. MPS service delivery to Gypsy and Traveller communities

(Agenda item 5)

27.1 The MPS introduced this item, noting that they were mindful of the requirement of community engagement and that there is a gypsy and traveller engagement policy that is currently owned by SO15 - DCFD are in discussion with SO and TP regarding future ownership of this policy.

27.2 They went on to state that there was a range of good practice across boroughs, but that officers have not always got such engagement right. These communities do have a representative on the Race IAG.

27.3 Bromley Borough Commander Charles Griggs noted that Bromley has the largest gypsy and traveller communities within London. He informed members that the vast majority of the 15,000 traveller families in Bromley are in social housing (predominately in St Mary Cray), with only two council-owner traveller sites (Star Lane and Old Maidstone Lane) with 22 and 12 pitches respectively.

27.4 He stated that these communities are policed in much the same way as any other – via their neighbourhood officers, and by responding to their requirements. Caravan sites are approached slightly differently, with officers standing at the threshold and shouting to allow entry (as opposed to just knocking on doors). Criminality is dealt with as in any other community – although when the police are contacted they will ask for the communities to hand over any suspect (precluding the requirement for forced entry).

27.5 In terms of communication, Commander Griggs noted that a lot of reporting will be through word of mouth as opposed to the internet, for instance. As such, a sustained dialogue between these communities and officers is essential. Formal group such as the Bromley Traveller Project and the Bromley multi-agency partnership are also very helpful. A recent initiative has encompassed reading, writing and census-filling.

27.6 A member questioned whether there was a desire for these communities to be engaged and integrated, cautioning that community engagement should be balanced with citizen focus (and self-determination). He asked whether the police were putting disproportionate effort into engaging and assisting them.

27.7 The MPS replied that they police all communities based on their needs. They agreed that in some instances interaction could be perceived as intrusion, and this applies particularly to formal engagement. As such, any traveller forum (e.g. IAGs) is likely to be unrepresentative. They noted that following a murder last year, Safer Neighbourhoods officers were invited to attend the funeral – which has symbolic significance for many gypsy and traveller communities.

27.8 Freida Schicker stated that these communities do want to be engaged, and cited the ‘we are Londoners too’ protest attended by 60-80 travellers and that half of all responses to the Mayor of London’s annual plan (500 of 1000) came from travellers. She noted that the report was misleading in that not only Westminster is without a caravan site, but Enfield, Harrow and Islington are also. With regard the IAG she agreed that only one member was a traveller from London, and all attempts to increase this number (including a proposal to limit membership to London travellers only) had failed. She suggested that the IAG excluded anyone considered to be ‘complaining’.

27.9 The MPS said that it would welcome a copy of the aforementioned proposal and would consider any other information on the IAG.

27.10 Yvonne MacNamara agreed that the IAG only met about four times and said this was because most of the membership was not from London. She raised concerns that the vetting of IAG members may be forestalling potential candidates. She challenged some of the facts in the report, suggesting that the Harrow hate crime project, for instance, was never initiated (despite being financed), and that whilst travellers may report crime, there had been incidents where the response was seen as inadequate. She noted that she had written a report regarding the access of travellers to police services and that she would be happy to circulate this.

27.11 The MPS responded that they are committed to community engagement and that a lot of energy and resource had been used to this end. They recognised the importance of this work in support of effective operational policing. They expressed a willingness to look into the use of funds connected to the Harrow hate crime project. They noted that Steve Rodhouse is accountable on these issues. With regard to vetting, they noted that each IAG has been asked to forward a number of candidates to be vetted, to enable them to fully engage with the MPS. The decision to do so was taken by the MPA, to ensure that IAGs remain informed and relevant.

Action: A report on vetting will be commissioned.

27.12 The Chair noted the concerns of the membership that the MPS must be mindful of who are community leaders in London. Yvonne MacNamara added that sometimes the best people to advise the police are those with a history that includes criminality and that IAGs would be poorer for their exclusion. Alfred John agreed that in recruitment to IAGs and into the Service more broadly, the MPS was at times excluding very good candidates.

27.13 Councillor Melvin Collins stated that the MPS should seek to be inclusive but not invasive. He suggested that all councils have a moral obligation to secure sites for travellers and to give them adequate support. Cindy Butts agreed that there should be a forum outside of these meetings for these communities to air their views and engage with police.

27.14 The Chair asked how the best practice established in places like Bromley had been rolled out across the MPS. The MPS replied that advisors such as John Wilson report best practice to the DCFD and promulgate it. Steve Rodhouse is responsible for monitoring performance across the MPS.

27.15 Freida Schicker suggested that service provision has been patchy and very much dependant on the personality of the officer. She went on to say that MPS policy documents tend to be lengthy and opaque and therefore discourage engagement from community organisations with limited resources. Yvonne MacNamara agreed, stating that she did not know how to operate as a ‘third party reporting site’ and that no training had been received.

27.16 The MPS replied that they are seeking to institute a more rigorous process of third party reporting and that the DCFD have previously offered resource to facilitate this.

27.17 Brenda Thompson noted that engagement need not mean cultural assimilation and that the MPS and partners should be encouraged to enable access to police, health and educational services. Isis Amlak suggested that often community engagement seems to be little more than a tick box exercise, and that asking what level of service provision each community requires should be a formal process (much like the use of EIAs).

27.18 Doug Lewins suggested that the Sub Committee should receive a report on third party reporting. The Membership agreed. He also expressed concern that job retention for liaison officers is low and that they do not, therefore, have sufficient time to build effective relationships within the communities.

Action: A report on third party reporting will be commissioned.

27.19 A Member summed up discussions, noting that this was a varied and complex group of communities, with varying levels of willingness to engage. He noted that it appeared that engagement was just the tip of the iceberg and that broader issues of MPS service delivery to hard to hear communities has also come into question.

27.20 The MPS noted that DCFD hold a strategy composed of four themes, three of which had been touched on during this discussion: responsive service delivery, community engagement, and performance monitoring.

Action: MPS and MPA officers to meet to discuss the action plan on Service Delivery to Gypsy and Traveller Communities.

The meeting was closed at 12.30pm

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