Diversity Strategy

Report: 10
Date: 17 July 2003
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report details the progress and current position of the MPS Diversity Strategy, devolved implementation of the Diversity Strategy, Policy Clearing House, Cultural Survey Audit and the Fairness at Work Policy.

A. Recommendations

Members are asked to note the contents of this report

B. Supporting information

MPS Diversity Strategy

1. At the last meeting of the Diversity Strategy Co-ordination Forum held on 23 May 2003, discussion was held on the structure and processes currently employed to progress the MPS Diversity Strategy. It was recognised that the current structure of Strategic Work Groups, Co-ordination Forum and Diversity Strategy Board had been in place for three years and the current Diversity Strategy ‘Protect and Respect 2’ has been in place for two years.

2. On 23 May 2003, the Diversity Strategy Monitoring Unit (DSMU) forwarded a message to all stakeholders, including both internal and external members of the Diversity Strategy Co-ordination Forum, seeking their views on improving the current arrangements and realigning the strategy with the needs of 2003 and beyond.

3. Members were asked to consider four questions:

• Do we need the current Board, Forum and Work Group structure?
• Could some of the work groups/work strands be combined and or consolidated?
• Are some initiatives contained within the corporate Diversity Strategy Action Plan too restrictive, need enhancing and or rationalising to meet our needs for the future? and
• Can we remove some items as they are substantially complete?

4. Whilst considering the above questions, members were reminded that:

• The current Action Plan forms the appendix to the published MPS Race Equality Scheme
• The Action Plan is the main vehicle for mainstreaming diversity to Boroughs through the use of the generic template and
• The Action Plan is the main driver for the Best Value ‘Equalities for All Recommendations (which the GLA are leading)

5. Responses were required to be submitted to the DSMU for collation and consideration. The findings will be presented to the next Diversity Strategy Co-ordination Forum on 23 July 2003. The format of this meeting will be changed to that of a focus group to consider all of the above issues.

Strategic Work Group Progress

Investigation

6. This Work Group is in the process of conducting a critical analysis and review of all actions, initiatives and terms of reference. This will include the introduction of new work with regards to Vulnerable Adults and Forced Marriages. The Work Group is currently in the process of liaising with TPHQ and SO5 on developing the work on Vulnerable Adults.

7. Links have been made with TPHQ, who have now employed a Detective Chief Superintendent with overall responsibility for Community Safety Units (CSU).

8. Members of the workgroup now attend the Detective Chief Inspectors meeting held by TPHQ to ensure that Hate Crime is on the agenda. DCC4 hold regular meetings with CSU managers and the decision has been made to incorporate future meetings of this forum into the Investigation Workgroup.

9. Within the Diversity Directorate, it is also apparent that there is an overlap in the work between the Investigation and Prevention workgroups. It is often difficult to separate out the two issues and the membership of both workgroups is very similar. As described in paragraphs 1-4 above, consideration is being given to the possibility of an amalgamation of both work groups.

10. Ongoing work includes: The MPS Internal Consultancy Group (ICG) are in the process of conducting a review of Community Safety Units (CSUs) with a view to developing a ‘staffing and resources’ model for all MPS CSUs. The final report is expected at the end of June 2003 when it will be subject of further evaluation and consideration.

11. The development of a corporate standard for the investigation of domestic violence is nearing completion. Full rollout and implementation is anticipated to commence at the beginning of September 2003 and will coincide with a planned advertising campaign concentrating on Domestic Violence issues.

12. The Domestic Violence Risk Assessment pilot has been completed, reviewed and fully evaluated. This was the subject of a presentation to the Deputy Commissioner on 27 June 2003 and a final decision, taking into account the resource implications, is to be made as to whether this model will be fully rolled out MPS wide.

13. The Family Liaison Steering Group has been relaunched and will be chaired by Commander Dick. The MPS Internal Consultancy Group are currently conducting a scoping exercise of Family Liaison Officers (FLOs) throughout the MPS to include their location, availability, use, support and training. The purpose of this exercise is to conduct a fundamental review into all aspects of family liaison within the MPS.

14. The Diversity Directorate has recently completed training for staff and managers at both the BBC and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). BBC staff received training on the management of deaths of staff members and how to support family, friends and colleagues. The training for the FCO concentrated on the creation of a ‘rapid response team’ to deal with FLO issues internationally. The first deployment for this team was to Saudi Arabia in May.

15. On 23 May 2003 a seminar was held to discuss the issue of what has become to be known as ‘Honour Killings’. Responses from delegates have been fed back to the Gold Group ‘chaired’ by Commander Andre Baker, Specialist Crime Directorate (SCD) to assist in the development of the MPS response to this issue.

16. The Diversity Directorate has assumed control of the investigation into the desecration of a Muslim female at Hillingdon Hospital. An arrest was made at the beginning of May although this investigation remains ongoing.

Prevention

17. This Work Group is in the process of conducting a critical analysis and review of all actions, initiatives and terms of reference. As per Investigation above, it is apparent that there is considerable overlap in the work between the Investigation and Prevention Workgroups and is also subject to the same strategic review.

18. Athena Sport staff now have membership on the MPS/MPA ‘Diversion from Crime Through Sport’ working party and the ACPO ‘Racism in Football’ working party. Ongoing work includes working with Brent Borough in the development of their ‘Athena-Sport’ pilot project, working with football authorities to establish protocols to target racism and homophobia in football and working in partnership with the All England Netball Association Racial Equality Focus Group to target racism within netball.

Training

19. The MPS objective to deliver Community and Race Relations (CRR) training to all police officers and front-line civil staff has been completed. By 31 December 2002 the programme had been delivered to 35,882 staff representing 104% of those originally identified as requiring training. The amount of staff trained increased by 4% due to staff wastage, the increase in transferee’s and return of secondee’s to the MPS who had not previously been trained. Training for ‘non-frontline’ civil staff will continue throughout 2003. To date, 5,385 non-frontline civil staff have attended this programme (with approximately 1,500 remaining to be trained).

20. The MPS evaluation of the CRR programme, undertaken by HR: Directorate of Training and Development’s Training Standards Unit is ongoing. Individual evaluation reports have been provided to OCUs and an overall report will be provided in early 2004. These reports are also provided to MPS senior managers and the MPA. The MPA evaluation of the CRR programme, being undertaken by the Institute of Employment Studies, will be completed at the end of August 2003.

21. The HR: Directorate of Training and Development’s Diversity Training Branch is continuing to work on the development of further training for police officers and civil staff to provide awareness and understanding of diversity issues not addressed in previous diversity training programmes.

22. There will initially be 4 main elements to the next phase of diversity training.

• Managers’ and supervisors’ programme: with a focus on the management of diversity in the workplace. The training needs analysis for this programme has commenced. At the research stage of the TNA it was apparent that there was the potential for this work to duplicate earlier work on the development of training for managers on the management and prevention of grievances (undertaken by the Training Liaison Team in May 2001) and the follow-up Fairness at Work performance needs analysis (completed at the beginning of the year). The team co-ordinating the management of diversity in the workplace TNA have therefore been asked to identify whether there are any additional training needs for managers and supervisors, not covered in the proposed Fairness at Work training programme.
• Piloting of the 1-day programme on internal culture issues has commenced in 4 OCUs. The programme focuses on relations between police officers and civil staff, and part-time and full-time employees etc and has been designed to support the Gender Agenda and the work of the Development and Organisation Improvement Team. The pilots will be reviewed by HR:DTD Training Standards Unit and will be completed by the end of July 2003. It is proposed that this programme will be delivered to all staff, although approval for this will need to be provided by Training Management Board.
• Diversity Trainer Training Modules. This is an ongoing programme of work initially targeting recruit trainers (to supplement the diversity elements of the Trainer Foundation Course). A 5-day diversity trainer-training programme commenced in January 2003 and will eventually be provided to all MPS trainers.
• Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000) The TNA for this programme will be completed by the end of July 2003.

23. In July 2003, Diversity Training Branch will commission a TNA to identify training options on LGBT issues. Work is currently underway with the Disability Programme Board to progress the training recommendations of a disability awareness performance needs analysis completed last year.

24. A ‘Diversity Training School Management Board’, to ensure effective delivery of all future diversity training programmes will shortly be established. This will report to the HR Directorate Training Board, which will agree future diversity training priorities. The HRD Training Board will report to the Training Management Board, which is responsible for the implementation of the MPS Annual Training Plan. The HMIC Inspection Report ‘Diversity Matters’ is the subject of a separate report to this meeting and therefore will not be covered in this report.

Recruitment

25. The overall police budgeted workforce target (BWT) at end March 2004, has been increased by 5.1% to 29,856, with a target of 1,971 (6.6%) for black and minority ethnic (VEM) officers and 5,374 (18%) for women officers.

26. At the end of May 2003, the overall police strength was 28,602. The projected strength at the end of June 2003 is likely to rise to 28,795.

27. The VEM officer strength at the end of May 2003 was 1,603 - comprising 308 women and 1,294 men - and represents a shortfall of 368 against the target of 1,971. At the end of May, women officer strength stands at 4,792 – made up of 4,484 white women and 308 VEM women - and represents a shortfall of 582 against an end of year target of 5,374. Within the current police workforce, women officers represent 16.8% and VEM officers represent 5.6%.

28. The projected strength for women and VEM officers at the end of June is likely to increase to 4,870 women and 1,626 VEM officers.

Police leavers

A total of 270 (i.e. 3.4 VEM women, 20 VEM men, 28.34 white women and 218 white men) officers left the MPS since April 2003. The number of leavers at the end May 2003 shows an improvement on the number who left during the same period of time last financial year (i.e. 270 against 284).

Police applications

30. Between April and May 2003, there have been a total of 9,384 job enquiries have been received compared to 11,735 received during the same period last financial year, amounting to a 20% decrease. Of those enquiries received there were a total of 2,954 VEM enquiries (i.e. 1,683 men, 1,206 women and 65 where gender is unknown) which amounted to 31.5% of all enquiries and 3,190 women enquirers (i.e. 1,984 white women and 1,206 VEM women) which amounted to 34.0% of all enquiries; this compares favourably with the number of enquiries received between April and May last year, of which there were 2,277 (19%) VEM and 2,783 (24%) women. Therefore, the overall decrease in the number of enquiries coupled with an increase in the number and proportion of VEM and women enquirers provides some evidence of the effectiveness of the targeted advertising and marketing.

31. Between April and May 2003, a total of 1,580 application forms have been received compared to 1975 received in the same period last year, amounting to a 20% decrease in the number of applications received. Of those applications received, there were 290 VEM applications (18.35%), i.e. 95 men, 39 women and 12 unknown gender, and 407 (25.76%) women applicants, i.e. 198 white women and 39 VEM women, compared to 326 (16.5%) VEM and 456 (23.1%) women applicants last year. There are approximately 8,100 applications in the police selection process

Police application processing times

32. The new ‘Batch Process’ for police applications commenced on 3 June 2003. Under the new process, approximately 200 applicants are invited daily to participate in Day 1 – comprising PIRT and written test. The revised Day 2 – comprising medical, PFT and interview is due to start on 23 June 2003 and 120 applicants will be invited to attend daily. A reporting process has been introduced to monitor the results, including attendance rates and yields, on a daily basis.

Police community support officers

33. There has been an increase in the overall PCSO recruitment target for the financial year 2003/2004. Currently, there is an overall target of 820 PCSO (550 Community/Security and 270 Transport), with specific targets of 206 (25%) VEM, and 238 (29%) women PCSO recruits. The Transport PCSO target will also comprise of Traffic Wardens transferring to the OCU as well as new entrants. There are two Community/Security PCSO intakes due in June 2003, which have 57 PCSOs allocated. At the end May 2003, the overall PCSO strength stood at 627.86 PCSO (215 VEM and 171 women).

Advertising and marketing

34. General advertising ceased during November 2002 and there is no immediate plan to re-start general advertising in the near future until the backlog of officers has been reduced. Specific and intensive activity has been put in place to reduce the backlog between June and August, with a pause in sending out application packs.

35. To coincide with the resending of information packs, an advertising campaign will commence in September 2003 aimed specifically at ethnic minority groups and women. This will include advertising in group-specific publications. A series of nationality advertisements have also appeared in the Evening Standard and Metro. To ensure that female recruitment targets are achieved there will also be a female recruitment campaign later in the year. The MPS was short-listed for the CIPD Diversity Award, the presentation for which took place on 24 June 2003.

Positive Action (Central) Team

36. During the last financial year, the Positive Action Central Team directly supported a total of 922 VEM applicants throughout the recruitment process. The number of applicants receiving support amounted to approximately half of all the VEM police applications received. During the first two months of this new fiscal year, a total of 386 applicants were supported, 91 during April 2003 and 295 during May 2003.

37. Since the introduction of the Intromet, there have been nine events within locations where there is a high-density VEM working population. During the most recent Intromet event held at Westminster (Methodist Central Hall) on 13th May 2003 at total of 301 people registered, of which 97 (32%) were VEM (66 male and 31 female) and 89 female. The ‘Refer-a–Friend’ initiative is the subject of a separate report and therefore not dealt with in this report.

National Recruitment Standards

38. The National Recruitment Standards implementation is progressing steadily and the target date for the introduction of the new assessment centre is still September 2003. The only tests retained within the PIRT will be those that cover verbal and numerical logical reasoning. The remaining tests will be replaced by a variety of new selection tests and exercises. It is anticipated that new assessment exercises will reduce the risk of adverse impact upon minority groups.

Fair Practice Internal

The Female and Ethnic Minority Detective Training Programme

39. The first selected candidates started on the programme in June 2003. All selected candidates during the first phase will have commenced training by late June 2003. Officers are completing the bulk of their training across various (B) OCUs within the MPS.

40. There is a tendering process underway for the FEM-DTP to gain educational or vocational accreditation. In addition an element of this tender exercise includes provision for Assessors to become accredited with a recognised assessment qualification.

41. Financially, £30,000 has been provisionally identified to resource both accreditation processes. All human resource implications have been budgeted for at the outset of the programme

Future actions

42. A second phase of selections is shortly to commence, targeting eligible uniformed female and ethnic minority Chief Inspectors and Inspectors. It is hoped that in total fifteen officers (including those already selected) will be participating in the programme by January 2004

0-5 Development day

43. As part of the MPS O-5 Development Programme, a support day is being held on the 30 June at the 5th Floor Briefing and Conference Room NSY. The purpose of the day is to encourage VEM officers in their formative years of service to consider the different career options open and available to them. Over twenty different specialist units are to be present at the day providing career guidance and advice. This event will being managed and resourced by members of the DOIT team.

The Personal Leadership Programme PLP

44. Having negotiated six hundred student places for 2003/4, the DOIT team are currently marketing the programme across (B) OCUs to eligible ethnic minority staff both police and support. Commencing in July 2003, places on the first ten courses held at the MPS Sports Clubs have been filled by delegates.

45. To ensure the smooth implementation of the programme both pre and post rollout, a working group has been established. It comprises of DOIT staff, the Centrex PLP project manager and representatives from some of the relevant Staff Associations. This course is being project managed by a constable from DOIT and quarterly PLP evaluation reports will be published.

The Hendon Diversity Refurbishment

46. A draft Project Initiation Document (PID) relating to the proposal for a cultural corridor has been written. Currently with the Director of DOIT it will shortly be disseminated for wider consultation. A full update will be provided for the next EODB meeting.

LGBT training for key managers

47. A draft PID relating to the above was written and has been disseminated to key stakeholders including the GPA, DTSU, Federation and Trade Union. Subject to satisfactory consultation feedback it is proposed that this project is put out to tender to service providers.

Commissioner’s Leadership Programme for Senior Managers (CLP)

48. In June another programme was run for Band B grades and Superintendents. This ‘generic’ leadership initiative is now in a well-established format and three more programmes are planned for the rest of this financial year.

49. £700k has been secured to fund the four programmes for this financial year. At present the Leadership Strand, with some help from the Diversity Strand and HPDS staff, provide the human resources to manage these programmes in partnership with the Campaign for Leadership.

50. A pilot CLP for first-line mangers within Territorial Policing is currently underway. This concludes in September – the pilot will be evaluated and costed. Some scoping work is underway to investigate if any under-represented groups are disadvantaged by the structure of the CLP. A CLP for part-time workers, for example, may be one outcome from this work.

The High Potential Development Scheme

51. Seventy-five MPS officers are currently on this scheme. The first year of the new, more-open scheme has just finished. Evidence nationally indicates that the average age of applicants has increased. The success rate for applicants is about the same but the big issue is that VEM staff are under-represented right across the country.

52. The MPS liaison is resourced by the Leadership Strand of DOIT and £20K is set aside for mentor training.

53. Future considerations for CLP await the results of a Home Office Review of the scheme, consideration for any actions from the Police Leadership and Development Board on the issues re VEM staff and to continue to market the scheme and identify barriers to VEM staff.

The Support Programme for the Senior Command Course (SCC).

54. Again this year the Leadership strand are supporting candidates from the MPS for the 2003 SCC. Applications need to be submitted by the end of June. Coaching and mentors are examples of the support initiatives. This year sees the last of the current SCC process. A new Home Office programme is launched next year. Future considerations await details of new programme and see how support might change.

Stop and search

55. The first phase of implementation of Recommendation 61 of Stephen Lawrence enquiry successfully commenced at Hackney on 1st April 2003. There was a public launch of Recommendation 61 at Hackney on Monday 31st March 2003. All relevant staff at Hackney have received Recommendation 61 training.

56. The Directorate of Public Affairs (DPA) has used a variety of methods to inform staff throughout the MPS of progress in respect of Recommendation 61. An article was published in the MPS internal Newspaper (‘The Job’) on 7th March 2003 and posters have been distributed throughout the MPS for internal use. The Diversity Directorate intranet site has also been used to update the staff

57. The revised ‘Code A’ (Police and Criminal Evidence Act) was introduced across England and Wales on 1st April 2003. One of the main changes is the requirement for the police officer to provide a copy of the search record to the person searched at the time of the search. The redesigned Stop and Search form fully complies with the ‘Code A’ and also provides information about the police powers to search and public’s rights in such an encounter. The new form also has the facility to record Recommendation 61 stops in Hackney. The form was delivered to all OCUs before 1 April 2003.

58. Following comments from the MPA, IAG and operational officers, the MPS has changed the order of the self-defined ethnicity codes. The changes were suggested by the Home Office following their discussions with a number of stakeholders including Doreen Lawrence, APA, CRE, NPBA, PCA, HMIC, ACPO, Police Federation, and Beverley Thompson (MPS-IAG). The relevant forms with the self-defined ethnicity have been amended; the main groups are now in alphabetical order:

• Asians or British Asians;
• Black or Black British;
• Chinese or Other Ethnic Group;
• Mixed;
• White.

59. The new stop/search database became operational across the MPS on 1st April 2003. The database has the facility to store the increase in data when Recommendation 61 is fully implemented throughout the MPS. There will be further updates to the database throughout this year. The database records both the self-defined ethnicity code (16+1) and the 6+1 codes. On the 10th March 2003 the data inputters throughout the MPS received training at NSY on how to utilise the new database.

60. MPA are conducting a scrutiny in the activity of Stop and Search. MPS is fully supporting this project. A status report for the MPS has been prepared and submitted to the MPA. Staff have been identified to advise the project steering group and to assist with the scrutiny process.

Fair practice external

61. All boroughs analysed their stop and search data for October 2002-December 2002 and submitted a report to the DSMU identifying any disproportionality, providing an explanation for any disproportionality and any actions taken to deal with any unfairness identified. This information was analysed by DCC4, PIB and Consultancy Group.

62. As the boroughs were required to present their submissions in a one-page format, this led to disparities in the way information was collated and submitted. Furthermore, this method of submission did not provide Boroughs with the opportunity to evidence their explanation for disproportionality. Therefore for the January – March 2003 submissions, boroughs were sent a template consisting of several questions on the direction and effectiveness of Stop and Search activity on each borough. This will identify the analytical needs of the boroughs and good practice. The boroughs were also asked to send a copy of their Stop and Search High Risk Self-review. The date for these submissions was 31st May 2003. The information submitted is currently being analysed.

63. It has become apparent from the above processes that the answers supplied have posed more questions than they have answered. The DSMU is therefore in the process of refining both the method and type of questions to be asked to provide consistency in the collation and submission of returns.

Disability

64. The Strategic Disability Team (SDT) is currently undertaking visits to all BOCUs to collect and collate information on employee issues and community based concerns. Once completed, the information collected will be used to prioritise the work for the SDT. The SDT continues to assist individuals in accessing information and assisting with clarifying issues for managers.

65. Ongoing work includes;

• Working together with the DTSU on the feasibility of developing a CD ROM based training package for staff on disability awareness
• Exploring the possible development of a desk manual for Front offices on disability issues.
• Developing a website for SDT which will provide information for staff and managers.
• Major project on deaf and hard of hearing issues for staff and community.
• Working with C3i to explore technology options, including use of Text
• Taking the lead for ACPO on changes to the employment arrangements for police officers post Oct 2004
• Working with HR to ensure that disability is woven into all HR issues, for example restricted duties, assessment, promotion and recruitment
• Working with HR to capture data on staff with disabilities in the organisation.

66. On 16 June 2003, the SDT held a consultation meeting with staff. The meeting was opened by the Deputy Commissioner Sir Ian Blair and attended by Assistant Commissioner Hogan-Howe and Commander Dick. One of the outputs from this meeting was the proposal to set up a disability staff association. The emphasis was for the staff themselves to create the association with the support of the SDT.

Devolved implementation of the diversity strategy

67. During the last month the generic Diversity Strategy template has been revised. The Race Relations (Amendment) Act and Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Recommendations have been themed throughout the template. Individual initiatives that comply with both the act and the recommendations have been identified and highlighted. This will have the benefit of promulgating and increasing understanding of both the Race Relations (Amendment) Act and the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Recommendations and show that Boroughs and Operational Command Units are working to comply with both.

68. Each initiative contained within the template now has a named individual who can be contacted to provide assistance and or best practice for that initiative.

69. At present there are twenty-five Boroughs with local Diversity Strategies, of which 16 have used the corporate template.

70. On 9th May 2003, Commander Broadhurst (TPHQ) issued an instruction to Borough Operational Command Units. Those BOCUs that currently have a Diversity Strategy either in their own format or in the corporate style must now use the new generic template and forward a copy of this new template to the DSMU by end of July 2003. Those BOCUs that do not have a diversity strategy must develop and implement a strategy using the new generic template by August 2003.

71. The devolved implementation of the Diversity Strategy to all central and pan London OCUs continues on a voluntary ad hoc basis. The following OCUs have requested and received presentations and copies of the generic template to develop their own Diversity Strategies, SO5 (Child Protection Team), SCD2(1) (Murder Review), Directorate of Professional Standards, and most recently SO16 (Diplomatic Protection Group).

72. It has become apparent that some specialist OCUs, dependent upon their role and remit will not be able to comply with all of the initiatives contained within the current generic template. The DSMU has therefore developed a generic template specifically targeted at Central and Pan London Units. All of the corporate section headings and initiatives have been retained but prioritised into ‘mandatory’ and ‘discretionary’ elements. The ‘mandatory’ elements would be those that all OCUs must complete and ought to be considered as the minimum standard to be achieved.

73. The minimum standards section includes the Race Relations (Amendment) Act, Disability Discrimination Act (including European Amendments), Training, Fair Practice Internal (including the Gender Agenda) and Recruitment.

74. Inclusion of the following discretionary areas of Investigation, Prevention, Stop and Search and Fair Practice External will be dependent upon the remit and work of individual OCUs.

75. A report requesting guidance as to the use and implementation of the ‘Central’ generic template has been recently submitted. Further implementation to central and Pan London OCUs awaits the result of such guidance being issued.

Policy Clearing House

Introduction

76. In January 2002 Management Board approved the establishment of a Policy Clearing House (PCH), the main purpose of which is to

• establish a policy development framework (including strategic committees)
• introduce quality standards for policy development and
• instigate a programme of policy reviews to ensure that all corporate policy is fit for purpose

Achievements to date

77. In collaboration with the PCH, each strategic committee has now agreed

• a list of corporate policies owned by that committee
• a programme of policy reviews (and started to implement the programme)
• to adopt the new policy quality standards
• ownership of a list of corporate projects (including those related to the Reform Agenda and those related to delivery of “Towards A Safer City”)
• Some strategic committees are also being used as the forum for decisions about developing and implementing specific strategies

78. In addition to leading the work to achieve the above, the Policy Clearing House has:

• achieved a reduction in the corporate policy list of 1014 policies (36% of the original total of 2810) by agreeing, with Heads of Policy Units, those which should be decommissioned, have been superseded or were not actually policies in the first place.
• obtained the agreement and support (together with DCC4) of the Commission For Racial Equality (CRE) in relation to our response to the Race Relations Amendment Act
• produced detailed guidelines relating to policy development and policy reviews – a draft copy of the workbook and guide were circulated to the previous meeting
• developed and begun to delivery a training package for all policy developers
• launched a corporate policy web site

The way forward

79. By December 2004 it is planned that the following outcomes will have been achieved through the programmes of work agreed by each strategic committee and the Policy Clearing House:

• all corporate policy will have been reviewed to ensure that it is fit for purpose; this is likely to result in a further reduction in the number of policies
• reviewed policy will be readily accessible to those required to comply with it via the PCH web site and supported by standard operating procedures, good practice and other essential information. (for the first time, we will be able to search one database for policy and say, “if it’s not there, it’s not MPS policy.”)
• the MPS will be able to demonstrate that it conforms with the policy requirements of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act
• the MPS will be able to demonstrate that its policies are available to the public as required under the Freedom of Information Act

Cultural survey audit

Background

80. The MPS is considering the requirement to carry out an “internal cultural audit”, which refers to an organisation-wide survey measuring attitudes of staff to various internal diversity issues. There are a number of drivers for this work:

• The Home Office “Dismantling Barriers” report recommended that all forces conduct a race relations/cultural audit to look at perceptions around the treatment of ethnic minority officers.
• The MPA’s Race Equality Scheme has a number of key success factors relating to how fairly MPS staff feel they are treated in terms of race and equal opportunities. There is currently no information collected to answer these questions.
• A perceived lack of co-ordination of local attitude surveys which may be resulting in the loss of valuable organisational learning.

81. An MPA/MPS working group has met a number of times to discuss this issue and a report was prepared for the MPA Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board (EODB) on March 13 2003. The decision was taken that the MPA would sponsor a joint MPA/MPS Project Board to identify a means of measuring internal diversity. It was agreed that prior to this, a scoping exercise would be carried out sponsored by Commander Dick of Diversity Directorate to determine the feasibility of an internal cultural audit.

82. Internal Consultancy Group (ICG) was approached to carry out this feasibility study. This will involve an analysis of the current situation within the organisation with regard to attitude surveys and interviews with key stakeholders to determine the risks and benefits associated with carrying out such an exercise. A paper will be presented to Management Board, who will then make a decision as to whether the project should go ahead. If so, a Project Board will be convened at this stage.

Objectives and scope

83. The objectives of this project are:

• To determine the views of senior managers within the organisation and other key stakeholders on carrying out an internal cultural audit or some alternative means of measuring attitudes to diversity issues.
• To determine the risks and benefits associated with carrying out such an exercise.
• To determine the current situation within and outside the organisation with regards to attitude surveys.

This will be achieved through interviews with a number of stakeholders to include:

• The Deputy Commissioner
• AC HR
• Director HR
• Head of Diversity Directorate
• Head of DOIT
• Director of Public Affairs
• MPA – chairs of the EODB and HR Board
• Home Office Dismantling Barriers team
• Chairs of IAG and LGBT AG
• Police Federation/Superintendents’ Association/Trade Unions
• MPS Staff Support Associations
• PIB3 – Research and Survey Unit

84. Other stakeholders will be identified as the research progresses. ICG will draft a letter to be signed by the sponsor to be sent to each of the stakeholders explaining the purpose of the research. The findings from the interviews will be incorporated into a report to be presented to Management Board. Research will also be carried out within the organisation and externally to look at what surveys are currently carried out, how they are received and what benefits they bring to the organisation.

Organisation

• Sponsor: Cdr. Cressida Dick, Diversity Directorate
  To agree Project Initiation Document (PID) and to sign off completed products. At the conclusion of the project, feedback will be sought from the sponsor or nominated representative via a quality of service questionnaire.
• Sponsor Liaison: Denise Milani, DOIT (Development & Organisation Improvement Team)
  To review draft products and provide advice & guidance to project manager
• Project Manager: Katharine Digger, ICG Tel: 65743
  Responsibilities in line with the ICG Project Manager’s agreement. Day to day running of project and preparation of all products

Project plan

Resources

85. This project will require one ICG project manager/project worker. Additional project workers may be required as the work progresses. Opportunity costs of the stakeholders to be interviewed will be incurred.

Costs

85. This work will take 15 days which will be deducted from DCC’s allocation of Internal Consultancy days. ICG does not charge for its work: for information, the total cost of these days would be £6750.

Benefits

87. The benefit of this work is that Management Board will have a concise summary of the views of key stakeholders on the potential risks and benefits of conducting an internal cultural audit. They will be able to make a decision on the issue based on an understanding of survey research in the MPS and also on an understanding of the wider context in terms of the MPA and Home Office requirements. All stakeholders will have been given the opportunity to comment on the viability of such an audit.

Constraints

88. This project is constrained by the availability of the stakeholders to be interviewed. This is particularly relevant for the senior managers who are likely to have full schedules. This may result in the timescales for the project being extended.

Assumptions

89. It is assumed that the list of stakeholders has been correctly identified. A certain amount of flexibility has been allowed in case it is necessary to consult additional people. However, in the event that a large number of extra interviews need to be carried out, additional days for the project may have to be negotiated. It is also assumed that information on the use of attitude surveys throughout the organisation is readily available through PIB3 and other sources.

Risks

90. As stated above, the main risk on this project is extension of the deadlines due to lack of availability of senior members of staff for interview. This has been minimised by a degree of flexibility in the project planning

Fairness at work policy

91. The MPS Fairness at Work Policy went live on Monday 5th May 2003. To date 14 matters of concern have been raised via the new procedure. Of these cases 2 have already been completed and were both resolved to the satisfaction of the Originator.

92. Nine of the cases initiated under the new procedure are from males. Eight of these are police officers. None of the male Originators are from a visible ethnic minority group. Of the five cases initiated by females, three are from members of civil staff. Overall only one of the female Originators (a member of civil staff) is from a VEM group.

93. All cases are being dealt with at Stage 1 by an appointed Fairness at Work Advisor (FAWA). Any cases which progress to Stage 2 will be managed by a Fairness at Work Appeal Advisor (FAWAA). The selection process for FAWA/FAWAA is via a selection interview. Advisors are being appointed locally by Personnel Managers and Appeal Advisors are being selected centrally by the Fairness at Work Co-ordinator. To date 206 Advisors have been appointed and 50 Appeal Advisors. The breakdown by gender/ethnicity is as follows:-

94. The recruitment of FAWA/FAWAA will be continuous. Those selected are undergoing a one-day induction programme. Also, additional workshops are being arranged to address any ongoing developmental needs.

95. It is too early to assess the impact of the new policy or to provide any meaningful comparisons with the Grievance Procedure. A review of the FAWN is scheduled to take place within six months of the implementation date. Those involved in the process will be invited to contribute to the review. This will include Originators/Subjects of matters of concern; FAWA/FAWAA, local Personnel Managers and Federation/Met TUS/ staff support organisation representatives.

Diversity Directorate

96. The Diversity Directorate (DCC4) has been subject to a number of recent changes in staff at Senior Management Team Level. Commander Dick is leaving to lead Cross Border and Organised Crime OCU (SCD1) and will be replaced Commander Steve Allen from TPHQ. Detective Superintendent Bussey has left the Directorate on promotion and is currently seconded to TPHQ. Detective Chief Inspector Fran Smith has left and been posted to Southwark Borough. Her work on the Race Relations (Amendment) Act has been passed to Chief Inspector Richard Varley of the Diversity Strategy Monitoring Unit. Dave Tucker, formerly Detective Chief Inspector has been promoted to Superintendent and will for the time being remain within DCC4 with lead responsibility for disproportionality monitoring and provide ACPO support to Commander Dick and Commander Allen. ACPO support is a new role within DCC4. A further Superintendent will be recruited to take on Service Delivery aspect of DCC4 work.

97. Recruitment of replacement staff and consideration for any restructuring of roles and responsibilities within DCC4 as a result of the staff changes as mentioned above are at the early stages of consideration and review. This review will also take into consideration the review of the structure, contents and management of the Diversity Strategy as mentioned at paragraph 1 above.

C. Equality and diversity implications

Each aspect of this report directly concerns and impacts upon equality and diversity issues within the MPS. The ongoing work detailed in the above report aims to publicly reinforce the MPS's commitment to diversifying all of its functions and practices. This process, together with increased transparency and accountability will assist in increasing public confidence in the MPS and thereby increase and improve the representation from underrepresented groups within its workforce.

D. Financial implications

All costs in the completion of this report are met from existing and proposed budgets and there is no need for additional funds.

E. Background papers

None.

F. Contact details

Report authors: Mark Antill, Inspector, Diversity Strategy Monitoring Unit, DCC4, Brett Dalby, MPS Policy Clearing House, Katherine Digger, MPS Internal Consultancy Group, Darren Bird DOIT, Neil Byrne HR Directorate, Ch Superintendent Brydon, DOIT.

For more information contact:

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

Send an e-mail linking to this page

Feedback