Minutes

Minutes of the Equal Opportunity & Diversity Board held at 10 Dean Farrar Street, SW1H 0NY, on 28 November 2002.

Present

Members

• Cecile Wright (Chair)
• Rosemary Emodi
• Toby Harris
• Kirsten Hearn
• Peter Herbert
• Martin Meredith
• R. David Muir
• Rachel Whittaker

MPA Officers

• Catherine Crawford (Clerk)
• Ken Hunt (Deputy Treasurer)
• Julia Smith (Policy Officer, CDO)
• Johanna Gillians (Senior Analyst)
• Jude Sequeira (Policy Development Officer)
• John Crompton (Committee Services)

MPS Officers

• Ian Blair (Deputy Commissioner) (for agenda items 13 and 14)
• Cressida Dick (Diversity Director)
• Mark Weaver (Deputy Head of Positive Action Team)

11. Introduction and apologies

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from Cindy Butts, Nancy Kelly, Bharti Patel, Rev. Stephen Penrose and Graham Tope.

The Chair welcomed the co-opted members to the meeting.

12. Declarations of interests

(Agenda item 2)

No declarations of interests were made.

13. Minutes of the meeting held on 26 September 2002

(Agenda item 3)

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 26 September 2002 be agreed and signed as a correct record.

14. Chair and Members’ update

(Agenda item 4)

The Chair reported that she had held the meeting with Mr and Mrs Lindo referred to in the minutes of the last meeting. She also reported that she had been part of a MPS visit to New York and this would be the subject of a report to the next meeting of the Board. Other members reported on their recent MPA activities.

15. Co-opted Members and terms of reference of the board

(Agenda item 5)

The Board received a report on this matter at its previous meeting and had made recommendations to the Authority meeting on 31 October. A report was supported which advised the Board of the appointment of co-opted members to the Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board and of changes to the terms of reference as agreed by the Authority.

Further to paragraph 5 the Board noted that the names of those appointed as co-opted members is as follows:

• Lee Jasper, Policy Director GLA with Rosemary Emodi as a named deputy
• Martin Meredith, Commission for Racial Equality
• Bharti Patel, Refugee Council
• Nancy Kelly, Children’s Rights Commission
• Rev Stephen Penrose.

Resolved - That

1. the co-option of Lee Jasper (Policy Director on Equalities and Policing – Mayor’s Office with Rosemary Emodi as the named deputy) and one representative each from the Commission for Racial Equality, the Refugee Council, the Children’s Rights Commission and the Rev. Stephen Penrose to the Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board be noted; and
2. the additional terms of reference be noted,

16. Lead Member roles

(Agenda item 6)

The Board received a report which set out details of the lead member role for MPA members following consideration of the matter by the Co-ordinating and Policing Committee. The Committee was invited to submit any further nominations for approval by the Co-ordinating and Policing Committee.

Rachel Whittaker pointed out that one area where the Authority did not have a link was mental health issues. She would be willing to be nominated to be the lead member for this area.

Resolved - That

1. the basis of the lead member role agreed by the Co-ordination and Policing Committee be noted;
2. Rachel Whittaker be nominated to be the lead member on mental health issues.

17. Submission from the Black Police Association

(Agenda item 7)

A brief report was submitted which advised of the areas which the Black Police Association wished to raise with the Board.

The Chair of the Black Police Association and other members of the Association attended. They gave a presentation on their current and future work plan and expanded on the points in their submission.

Resolved –that the submission be noted.

18. MPS progress on diversity strategy

(Agenda item 8)

An update was provided on the progress in implementing the MPS Diversity Strategy, the Gender Agenda and the Race Equality Scheme.

The Board noted that future reports would include information on the dates when key actions had been undertaken.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

19. Disability Discrimination Act

(Agenda item 9)

A report was submitted which outlined the approach the MPS is taking to ensure that it introduces measures to be fully compliant with the provision of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. The report also outlined the initiatives taken in respect of the European Year of the Disabled.

Members felt that there were several areas which were not covered by the report –for example mental health issues and service delivery, which should be the subject of a further report. Kirsten Hearn to be involved in the commissioning process.

Resolved – That the report be noted and a further report be submitted.

20. MPA Race Equality Scheme external advisory reference group

(Agenda item 10)

A report was submitted which proposed the development of an external Race Equality Scheme Advisory Group to lead, advise and monitor the implementation of the MPA’s Race Equality Scheme.

Members felt that there would be advantages in having a single group which monitored both the MPA and MPS Race Equality Schemes. A report was requested for the next meeting.

Resolved – That the matter be deferred and a further report be submitted to the next meeting of the Board on 9 January 2003 with proposals for a group to monitor both the MPA and MPS Race Equality Schemes.

21. Equal Opportunities and Diversity Management Information Sheet

(Agenda item 11)

At the inaugural meeting of the Board on 26 September 2002 a set of management information was agreed by members. A first draft of management information was submitted.

The Senior Analyst reported that future reports would contain information on areas which were under development when the current report was drafted and it was hoped that the information would generally be more up to date.

Members referred to a report on the gender and ethnic composition of Specialist Operation Units which had been considered by the former Consultation Diversity and Outreach Committee at its meeting on 9 May 2002. The report had revealed some marked under representation of VEM staff and they requested that future reports should include an update on these Units.

Resolved – That

1. the management information and emerging trends be noted,
2. future reports to include information on the gender and ethnic composition of Specialist Operation Units.

22. Recruitment Task Force

(Agenda item 12)

A report was submitted which updated the Board on the most recent meeting of the task force which has been established to examine ways of increasing visible minority ethnic recruitment to the MPS.

R. David Muir, the Chair of the task force, stressed that the task force had not made any decisions on the suggestions for VEM only intakes at Hendon or bounty payments which had been the subject of comment in the press.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

23. Recommendation 61 – Home Office Phased Implementation

(Agenda item 13)

The Home Office recently announced the phased implementation of Recommendation 61 of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry report. This report outlines the rationale for this decision and highlights the process underway for identifying the MPS Borough Operational Command Unit (BOCU) that will take part in the initial implementation. It also proposes the role which MPA could play in the phased implementation of this initiative.

The Deputy Commissioner referred to the technological difficulties which had been identified concerning the provision of portable computers/ printers and in connectivity with the main computer system.

Referring to paragraph 11, the Chair said she did not wish to proceed with the possibility of another two pilots.

Resolved – That

1. the process proposed by the Home Office for identifying the BOCU that will be involved in the initial phased implementation be noted;
2. The EODB in consultation with the MPS to consider the proposals outlined in paragraph 4 for updating and keeping Londoners and key stakeholder organisations and partners informed on the current and emerging progress of the implementation;
3. the MPS be asked to identify an additional BOCU to pilot the use of mobile IT for recording stops as a comparator to the paper based system that has already been discussed with the Home Office;
4. the Chair of the EODB in consultation with the Deputy Commissioner, establish a member-led working group to monitor the progress and learning from the BOCU selected to implement Recommendation 61; and
5. the following members be appointed to the working group – Cecile Wright, Peter Herbert, R David Muir, Martin Meredith and Lee Jasper.

24. Stop and Search data

(Agenda item 14)

A report was submitted which provided an overview of stop-search activities since 1998.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

25. Race Hate Crime Forum

(Agenda item 15)

A report on the proposals for the establishment of an MPA coordinated Pan London Race Hate forum was presented to the Coordination and Policing Committee on 16 September. The committee asked for revisions to be made to the report and for this to be considered by the EODB. A report, which has been revised and approved by the membership of the current Race Hate Crimes Working Group, was submitted.

Kirsten Hearn said she that the forum should extend its remit to cover all hate crimes. This would be in line with the MPS treatment of these issues. The policy officer, CDO explained that the work so far had been on race hate crimes. It would require a radical change to broaden the focus.

Resolved (on a vote)

1. the proposal be agreed subject to confirmation being received from the other partners in the Forum that they will provide their share of the cost of running the Forum;
2. the revisions that have been made to the proposal, notably to paragraphs 4, 5 and 6, which aimed to address the key concerns of the members on 16 September be agreed;
3. the consultation process outlined in paragraph 9 be agreed; and
4. it be noted that Roger Casale, MP for Wimbledon, has offered to host the launch of the Race Hate Crimes Forum in the New Year.

The meeting finished at 4.50 p.m.

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