Race and Faith Inquiry

Report: 7
Date: 27 November 2008
By: the Chief Executive

Summary

On 6 October 2008, Boris Johnson, Chair of the Police Authority, invited Cindy Butts to chair an inquiry into race and faith issues in the MPS. This report invites Members to endorse the terms of reference for the review.

A. Recommendation

That members endorse the draft Terms of Reference for the Inquiry.

B. Supporting information

1. The MacPherson Inquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence, published in February 1999, was a turning point for the way race issues were dealt with in the police service. Lord MacPherson made 70 recommendations, 39 of which were directed towards the police service. These included identifying the importance of having a police service that represents the communities it serves and the importance of increasing number of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) staff at senior levels in public services, in particular in the police service.

2. Since that time the police service nationally and the Metropolitan Police Service in particular, has put considerable effort into addressing the recommendations made by MacPherson. Whilst progress has undoubtedly been made, several other reviews have been conducted, prompted for example by the BBC programme ‘The Secret Policeman’ in 2005, which have caused concern about the extent to which the recommendations have been mainstreamed.

3. The Metropolitan Police Service has invested heavily in activity aimed at building trust and confidence with London’s diverse communities, both externally, through for example establishing a network of Independent Advisory Groups, and internally by establishing positive action programmes aimed at improving representation of BME staff at all ranks within the police service.

4. During that time (1999 – 2008), the proportion of officers that come from a BME background has more than doubled (from 3.9% (1015) to 8.3% (2581)). The proportion of new recruits is significantly higher, and the proportion of BME police community support officers (PCSOs) and special constables significantly exceeds the BME economically active population in London.

5. Despite the successes achieved, challenges remain. Some communities remain under-represented, and success rates for BME candidates at police assessment centres remain lower than white candidates. Progression through the ranks has yet to show significant improvement, and while this is in part due to the time it takes to progress through the ranks, concerns are also raised by staff support associations and others about the fairness in the system. Retention amongst BME officers is also lower than their white counterparts. The MPS has undertaken considerable research into the drivers / barriers to recruitment, progression and retention and has developed programmes aimed at addressing the findings.

6. There has been considerable press coverage in recent months of several Employment Tribunals being progressed by senior police officers and staff on race and faith grounds, and the Metropolitan Black Police Association have felt it necessary to withdraw their support for the recruitment of BME officers.

7. In order to understand this better, the Chair of the MPA has invited Cindy Butts to undertake an inquiry into how race and faith issues are dealt with by the MPS. The full terms of reference, on which there has been extensive consultation, including informally with members at the members’ awayday, are outlined at appendix one, but in summary the inquiry will look at a small number of key themes:

1. Leadership and direction
2. Communication and relationships
3. Organisational development and learning
4. Workforce development
5. Managing behaviour.

8. Cindy Butts will chair the review, supported by a panel of external experts and a team of MPA officers. The review will focus on gathering information to answer questions related to the identified themes. The first stage will be a desk top exercise (undertaken by the officer) team to identify what information is already available (e.g. through previous MPA inquiries and committee papers). Further work will then be undertaken by the panel as outlined in the terms of reference.

9. The timescales are outlined in annex of the terms of reference. A draft report will be brought back to the authority for discussion and endorsement in May 2009.

C. Race and equality impact

The experience of officers and police staff in the context of their faith and race will be a key element of this Inquiry and although the focus is on race and faith, it is likely that the recommendations being made by the Inquiry will be applicable to other diversity strands. The inquiry will actively consider potential compound discrimination throughout its investigations.

D. Financial implications

The review will be delivered within MPA resources, using staff from the oversight and review team. Extra support (particularly for data analysis and any survey work) will be provided by the planning and performance team. It is anticipated that external support will be required to deliver a series of facilitated focus groups. We also plan to provide panel members with a small honorarium to thank them for their participation. In total, including staff costs, the budget is not expected to exceed £100k.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author(s): Siobhan Coldwell, Head of Oversight and Review, MPA

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

Appendix 1

Inquiry: Race and Faith within the MPS

Terms of reference

Draft proposal

1. Introduction

The MPA is to carry out an inquiry into race and faith within the MPS. It will examine the current position of the organisation in order to establish what has changed as a result of lessons learnt from the past, identifying success and good practice and further opportunities to build upon this. It is not the intention to repeat previous investigations around race and diversity issues. The Inquiry seeks to establish what is still required in order to achieve real cultural change, facilitating the development of a police service that promotes open dialogue on diversity issues and provides a safe working environment for all officers and staff.

2. Background

There has been much press coverage over the past few months of how the MPS deals with race and faith issues. This is of great concern to the MPS, MPA, officers and staff within the MPS regardless of background and we cannot ignore the potential for internal difficulties to reverberate beyond the police service and impact upon community police relations in London.

Having the confidence of all London’s communities is essential and it is even more crucial when one considers the two major policing difficulties facing London today; namely, combating terrorism and stemming the number of gun and knife crime murders within London. Both of these issues require the complete trust and confidence of London’s diverse communities and we cannot afford to weaken the relationship between them and the police service. We can only tackle gun, knife crime and terrorism if the police together with London’s diverse communities work hand in hand.

The inquiry will focus on race and faith as this is where recent issues have arisen. This is not to diminish the importance of, or the MPA’s commitment to other equality strands. It is recognised that there may be read across of the issues raised within the Inquiry in relation to gender, disability, sexual orientation and age. This will be highlighted and where appropriate, recommendations made.

3. Focus

Central to the Inquiry will be to understand the firsthand employment experiences of black and ethnic minority staff and officers within the MPS, namely in terms of recruitment, retention, career development and managing difference.

The inquiry will examine the progress made by the MPS as a result of a number of investigations into race within the police, most notably:

• the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report, which reaches its 10th anniversary in February 2009
• the Commission for Racial Equality (now Equality and Human Rights Commission) Formal Investigation into the Police Service in England and Wales published in March 2005
• the Morris Inquiry, commissioned by the MPA which published its report and recommendations in December 2004
• the MPA’s Talent Management Scrutiny published in 2007

Whilst it is not the intention of the inquiry to revisit previous reviews in their entirety, it is important to understand what has and hasn’t worked as a result of recommendations made. It will also help to determine if the approach taken by the MPS as a result of such reviews has been the most beneficial to achieving cultural change.
The inquiry will also consider issues that are not directly in the control of the MPA and MPS e.g. the role of the Senior Appointments Panel and the Strategic Command Course. Where relevant the MPA will make recommendations aimed at other bodies, e.g. the Home Office.

4. Themes

The Inquiry will explore the following themes:

• Leadership & Direction
  • Who has the overarching responsibility for race and diversity issues within the Metropolitan Police Service? Does it have the right profile within the organisation and at what level of seniority?
  • What do we expect from the leaders of the MPS both ACPO officers and Senior Management staff?
  • Who are the drivers for delivering culture change e.g. Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate and Human Resources?
  • How does the organisation build organisational confidence on race and faith issues?
  • What is the process for dealing with the organisational impact and community/public impact of high profile cases involving race?
• Communication and Relationships
  • How does the organisation communicate and build positive relationships with all staff and officers?
  • How does the service test the ‘health’ of the organisation – especially those from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds?
  • What role is played by staff support associations? What value do they provide to their members, the wider organisation and London’s communities as a whole? What is their relationship with MPS leadership?
  • What role is played by other representative bodies such as the Police Federation?
• Organisational development and learning
  • What factors have contributed to organisational successes?
  • What are the drivers and barriers to achieving cultural change around equality and diversity?
  • How does the MPS embed a people focussed approach; does the organisation understand the value of a diverse work force (both institutionally and operationally)?
  • How does the organisation learn from elsewhere?
  • What comparators exist within both the public and private sectors?
• Work force development (recruitment, retention, progression)
  • Is recruitment activity consistent across all business groups – how accessible are specialist areas?
  • What processes are in place to promote career development? Where the examples of success and what are the barriers?
  • How are positive action and career development initiatives applied in practice? Are they making a difference? What is available and to whom? How are they accessed? Are these initiatives helping the MPS to get the best out of its people and are they value for money?
• Managing behaviour
  • What is the capacity of managers in managing difference within the MPS – both informal and formal practices?
  • Does a comparative analysis of discipline outcome show that BME staff dealt with fairly and in the same way as their white counterparts?
  • Is the Fairness at Work procedure delivering what it was intended to deliver?
  • How does the organisation learn from both discipline and ET cases, which cases have held the organisation to account?

5. Objectives

1. Assess the extent to which there is a common understanding of diversity within the organisation and how it translates to the employment experience within the MPS.
2. Assess the extent to which there is effective leadership and a co-ordinated approach on issues of race and faith.
3. Determine if there are appropriate structures and resources are in place across all business groups and at B/OCU level to deliver the diversity agenda internally.
4. Determine the confidence levels of managers across the organisation in managing issues of race and faith and examine the support and training provided.
5. Evaluate the organisational response to diversity against the personal experiences of BME police staff and officers.
6. Identify any gaps in the current approach that need to be addressed
7. Examine work undertaken to address internal racial disproportionality in managing behaviour.
8. Identify internal good practice and learning to be shared across the organisation.
9. Identify appropriate external comparators and good practice.
10. Consider national programmes not directly in the control of the MPS and MPA relevant to race and faith and the impact on MPS Diversity Strategy.

6. Exclusions

The inquiry will not consider current or pending cases of individuals challenging the force on the grounds of race or faith discrimination.

7. Approach

Cindy Butts, an independent member of the police authority will chair the Inquiry. A panel of external experts will be convened to support her. (Discussions are currently underway with several individuals) The panel will focus on gathering information to answer questions relating to the identified themes. Panel-led sessions will, where possible, be held in public.

The panel will be supported by a team of officers who will gather information in several ways:

• taking oral and written submissions, harnessing the experience and expertise of a broad range of individuals and organisations from the MPS, the public sector and the private sector.
• Gaining a wide range of staff experience through facilitated focus groups (consideration is also been given to whether a staff survey is possible)
• Analysis of workforce data in key areas (e.g. recruitment, retention, discipline)
• Background research and identification of best practice.

8. Deliverables

The Inquiry will deliver a written report setting out:

• What was reviewed and why;
• How the review was undertaken (including witness list);
• Findings
• Conclusions
• Recommendations for the MPS, MPA and/or others with rationale;
• Next steps.

9. Costs

It is anticipated that the Inquiry can be delivered within MPA resources, using staff from the Oversight and Review team. It is anticipated that extra support may be required to aid the delivery of the facilitated workshops. Panel members will be provided with a small honorarium. The budget is unlikely to exceed £100k.

10. Risks

This inquiry has been instigated in response to a series of difficult and sensitive events. The sensitivities in the relationship between the MPS and staff support associations will have to be very carefully managed by the Panel. The authority needs to be aware of the potential reputational risks associated with the Inquiry, particularly in respect of the recommendations it makes. As noted above there have been several reviews in this area, yet it appears problems remain. One of the challenges for the panel will be to understand the barriers to and drivers for change in order to deliver a product that enables the organisation to move forward positively. This includes considering the oversight role of the MPA.

Managing staff expectations will also be a key challenge. The panel needs to identify mechanisms that ensure confidentiality is assured to those participating in staff focus groups.

The MPS is dealing with a number ongoing employment issues (tribunals and otherwise). The Inquiry needs to be very clear that it is not addressing individual “live” cases. Nevertheless, when publishing findings, the timing of ETs needs to be carefully considered. The panel may also wish to reconvene once these cases have been completed, in order to consider any new evidence arising out of Tribunal judgements.

Annex 1

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