Minutes

Minutes of the Equal Opportunity & Diversity Board held on 13 March 2003 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Cecile Wright (Chair)
• Toby Harris (up to agenda item 7)
• Kirsten Hearn
• Graham Tope
• Rachel Whittaker

In the temporary absence of the Chair, it was agreed that Rachel Whittaker be in the Chair for part of the consideration of agenda item 7.

Co-opted members

• Rosemary Emodi (substitute member for Lee Jasper, Policy Director on Equalities and Policing - Mayor’s Office)
• Alison Fenney
• Jason Lever
• Rev Stephen Penrose

MPA officers

• Catherine Crawford (Clerk)
• Ken Hunt (Deputy Treasurer)
• Julia Smith (Policy Officer, CDO)
• Jacqui Jones (Senior Press Officer)
• Claire Lambert (Analyst)
• Jude Sequeira (Policy Development Officer)
• John Crompton (Committee Services)

MPS officers

• Commander Cressida Dick (Diversity Director)
• Commander Broadhurst
• Linda Van der Hende (Disability Team - Diversity Directorate)
• Dave Stone (Positive Action Team)
• Sean Kennedy (Head of Diversity Training)
• DI Keith Fraser
• Detective Sergeant John Torpey attended for agenda item 5

Part 1

42. Introduction and apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from Cindy Butts, Peter Herbert and Martin Meredith.

It was noted Jason Lever that had replaced Nancy Kelly and Alison Fenney had replaced Bharti Patel.

The Chair welcomed those co-opted members who were attending their first meeting of the Board.

43. Declarations of interests

(Agenda item 2)

No declarations were made.

44. Minutes of the meeting held on 9 January 2003

(Agenda item 3)

Minute 39 implementation of Recommendation 61

At the request of a member it was agreed that the minute be amended to include the request that the Board should receive and approve the consultation strategy at its March meeting.

Subject thereto, it was

Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting held on 9 January 2003 be agreed and signed as a correct record.

45. Chair and members’ update

(Agenda item 4)

Members reported on their recent MPA activities.

46. Presentation from the Cultural and Communities Resource Unit

(Agenda item 5)

Keith Fraser and John Torpey made a presentation on the work of this recently established Unit and answered member’s questions. The Unit has been established to draw on the skills and backgrounds which exist amongst MPS staff to provide a more needs-based service for the diverse communities of London. The Unit which will ensure the efficient and effective deployment of staff to assist with the resolution of critical incidents

Resolved - That the presentation be noted.

47. Implementation of recommendation 61

(Agenda item 6)

The Board received a report which detailed the progress being made towards implementation of Recommendation 61 of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry whereby a record is made by police officers of all stops and stops and searches.

A member commented that the report did not contain any information on the previous pilot in Tottenham as had been requested at the last meeting of the Board.

Commander Broadhurst invited members of the Board to attend the training session in Hackney on 17 March which was due to be attended by Doreen Lawrence and Ravi Chand.

Copies of the form were tabled. The detailed comments included the fact that a small type face was used and whether this might cause difficulties in low lighting level conditions, duplication between the 6 + 1 and 16 + 1 codes and the length of time it would take to complete the form. The necessity to include the preamble about the MPS mission, vision and values was questioned and the point was made that much of the information repeated that in an existing APA/MPA leaflet.

In his reply to the points raised, Commander Broadhurst accepted that there was an overlap between the two classification codes, but the Police National Computer would only record the 6+1 classification. It was acknowledged that the 16 + 1 code would not record members of particular communities which were a characteristic of individual boroughs and they would have to appear as “other “. This was an aspect of the form which would need to be looked at when the content was revised.

Referring to the proposed IT pilot which it was intended to introduce later in the year Commander Broadhurst empasised that there were some critical aspects to be resolved before the pilot could be introduced. For example, the MPS was keen to source a reliable compact hand held unit which would issue on the spot “receipts” which he understood was not a feature of the IT based pilot in North Wales.

The Senior Press Officer said that the draft community strategy would be shared with community leaders. There would be a leaflet drop in Hackney and information would appear in “The Londoner.” Young people were also a specific target group for the publicity.

In reply to questions concerning the costs which had been incurred by the MPA the Clerk said these would be quantified.

Resolved - That-the report be noted

48. Stop and search scrutiny

(Agenda item 7)

The Board received a report which set out the proposed methodology for the stop and search scrutiny which had been the subject of a report at the previous meeting.

Members questioned some of the terms used in the terms of reference. In this connection it was agreed that the word “perceived” be inserted before the word “swamping” in the second line of the second paragraph of the section headed “The Urban Chaos Scenario” on the final page of the terms of reference.

The Clerk said that the terms of reference as presented were subject to detailed amendment.

The Chair suggested that there be consultation with the MPS over the detailed wording of the terms of reference.

In reply to a question the Policy Officer CDO confirmed that the scrutiny would include stops as well as stops and searches.

Resolved -

1. The proposed methodology for progressing the scrutiny be agreed, subject to amendments to the terms of reference.
2. The membership of the Panel be agreed as follows:
   • MPA Members: Cecile Wright (Chair), Lynne Featherstone, Toby Harris, Peter Herbert and R David Muir
   • Community Members: Sir Herman Ousley, Althea Smith, John Grieve, Rev. Nims Obunge and Action Group for Irish Youth
3. the proposed timescale for completing the scrutiny be noted.

49. Implementation of the MPS diversity strategy

(Agenda item 8)

This report updated the Board on the progress of the MPS diversity strategy through the work or the strategic work groups and the devolved management of the diversity strategy. It drew together information which had previously been the subject of separate reports.

Members commented that they welcomed the changes which had been made to the format for the presentation of this information.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

50. MPS diversity training: community and race relations programme

(Agenda item 9)

The first phase of the Diversity Training: Community and Race Relations programme to police officers and frontline civil staff has been completed. A report was submitted which provided an update on the current MPS evaluation of the programme and initial proposals for the next phases of training.

The Policy Officer CDO reported that the HMIC report “Training Matters” had now been published. The MPS would be commissioned to submit a report to the Board on the findings as they relate to the MPS and the proposed response. The Chair requested that a progress report be submitted on the MPA’s own scrutiny of the training.

Resolved - That

1. the report be noted.
2. further reports be submitted to future meetings as detailed above.

51. European Year of Disabled People

(Agenda item 10)

A report was submitted which advised members of the MPA and MPS initiatives relating to European Year of Disabled People (2003) and the progress on disabilities equalities work.

Rosemary Emodi confirmed that the points which the MPA had raised in its the letter of 20 January to the GLA were being progressed.

In reply to a question concerning the financial implications the Clerk advised that the general question of cross-subsidy between the GLA functional bodies was being looked at.

At the request of members it was agreed that consideration be given to a future meeting of the Board being a themed meeting on disability issues. The format for the meeting might be changed to include attendance by relevant groups.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

52. Internal cultural attitude surveys

(Agenda item 11)

A report was considered which discussed the initial case for the carrying out a corporate staff survey on diversity issues in the MPA and MPS. The Board was asked to consider the establishment of a project team to consider this initiative.

The Head of Diversity Directorate, MPS reported that the Director of the DOIT Team would chair the project team. She would stress that the proposal was at a very early stage and if it was decided to proceed with the survey it would be some time before it was carried out.

In noting the proposals members felt that this was a major piece of work and they would wish to be consulted before any decision was taken. It was also felt that the proposal would need to have the support of the MPS Management Board.

Resolved – That

1. a MPA /MPS project team be established to develop a business case and options for a corporate staff survey on cultural and diversity issues within the MPA and MPS.
2. a progress report be submitted to a future meeting of the Board before any decision is taken on whether or not to proceed.

53. Equality and diversity implications in reports considered by MPA committees since the last meeting of the board

(Agenda item 12)

A report was submitted which summarised some of the key issues in committee reports since the Board’s last meeting.

Members indicated that they welcomed the format of the report.

Resolved – That the information noted.

54. Diversity implications covered by reports to MPA committees

(Agenda item 12a)

From September 2002 in response to the Race Relations (Amendment ) Act 2000 all reports submitted to MPA Committees have been required to include equality and diversity implications. A report was submitted which provided the first assessment of how this is working.

Resolved – That

1. approve the proposal outlined in paragraph 5 for more specific guidance to be given on the assessment of the impact of policy or practice covered by each report; and
2. the process be reviewed further at the May meeting of the EODB.

55. MPA budget equalities submission to the GLA

(Agenda item 13)

A report was submitted which advised the Board of the submission which was submitted to the GLA in October 2002.

Referring to table 2 in the appendix members questioned whether all the relevant members of MPA staff had been included and referred in particular to the fact that the HR Administrator had not been included.

It was agreed that the list should be as comprehensive as possible.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

56. GLA black and minority ethnic communities (BME) Cracking Crime project

(Agenda item 14)

A report was submitted concerning the MPA’s continued involvement in the BME Cracking Crime project following a conference held in March 2002 to which the MPA contributed.

In reply to a point raised by a member, the Clerk said she was very conscious of the need to ensure that all the work of the Authority was harmonised.

Resolved - That

1. the report be noted and;
2. the continued involvement of officers in the project be agreed.

The meeting closed at 12.20 p.m.

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