Minutes

Minutes of the Equal Opportunity & Diversity Board held on 17 July 2003 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Cecile Wright (Chair)
• Kirsten Hearn
• Peter Herbert
• Graham Tope
• Abdal Ullah

 MPA officers

• Catherine Crawford (Clerk)
• Julia Smith (Policy Officer, CDO)
• Claire Lambert (Analyst)
• Jude Sequeira (Policy Development Officer)
• Tim Rees (Policy Development Officer)
• Elizabeth Turner (Management Accountant)
• John Crompton (Committee Services)

MPS officers

• Commander Cressida Dick (Diversity Director)
• Chief Superintendent Bob Carr (HR Directorate)
• Martin Tiplady (Director of Human Resources)
• Denise Milani (Director DOIT)
• Commander Steve Allen (Diversity Directorate)
• Chief Supt. Rod Jarman

Co-opted members - Lee Jasper, Jason Lever and Rev. Stephen Penrose.

Part 1

1. Introductions and apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from Rachel Whitaker, Martin Meredith and Commander Broadhurst.

It was noted that Bharti Patel the representative from the Refugee Council would be taking up her appointment in August.

The Chair reminded the Board that there was shortly to be a change in command in the MPS Diversity Directorate. On behalf of the Board she welcomed Steve Allen to his first meeting of the Board and wished Cressida Dick well in her new post.

2. Declarations of interests

(Agenda item 2)

No declarations were made.

3. Minutes of the meeting held on 1 May 2003

(Agenda item 3)

Denise Milani reported that she had submitted an apology to the last meeting. Subject thereto, it was

Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting held on 1 May 2003 be agreed and signed as a correct record.

4. Chair and Members’ update

(Agenda item 4)

The Chair reported that amongst her activities since the last meeting of the Board she had attended the Holly Royd conference on Leadership and Race Equality in the Police Service in Nottingham. Examples of good practice had been highlighted.

Other members reported on their MPA activities.

5. Presentation

(Agenda item 5)

The Policy Officer CDO apologised for the fact that it had not been possible to provide a Braille copy of the presentation for Kirsten Hearn on this occasion. Kirsten reiterated that it was essential that she received such information in order for her to contribute fully to the work of the Board.

David Reardon, Head of the Home Office Criminal Justice System Race Unit made a presentation on the work of the Unit. He explained that the Unit had been established to develop a better understanding of the involvement of people from ethnic minorities in the Criminal Justice System.

The Board thanked Mr Reardon for his presentation and asked to be kept advised of the work of the Unit.

Resolved - That the presentation be noted.

6. Lead Member roles

(Agenda item 6)

A report was considered which asked the Board to decide which lead member roles they require for the current year.

The Chair said that it would be appropriate for her to lead on stop and search and for Abdal Ullah to lead on youth issues.

Kirsten Hearn said that she would wish to be the lead member for hate crimes against certain vulnerable groups and access to police services.

The Policy Officer CDO reported that she would circulate a list suggesting further areas where the Board may wish to nominate lead members.

Resolved –That

1. Rachel Whittaker continue to be the lead member for mental health issues;
2. the following additional lead member roles be identified:
   • Stop and search – Cecile Wright
   • Youth – Abdal Ullah
   • Hate crimes against vulnerable groups - Kirsten Hearn
   • Access to police services - Kirsten Hearn
3. further lead members be identified following the circulation of a list of possible additional lead member roles.

7. Annual report of the board

(Agenda item 7)

A report was submitted which summarised the work of the Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board for the year 2002/03, its first year of operation.

In response to a point from a member the Policy Officer CDO confirmed that Gender Agenda should be included in the Annual Report.

The Clerk confirmed that the section of the report headed “Challenges to be achieved in 2003/04” was not intended to be the definitive work plan for the Board as this was still to be finalised. Kirsten Hearn asked for the inclusion of issues relating to crimes against vulnerable people in the work plan.

Resolved - That subject to the inclusion of an item on Gender Agenda the annual report be agreed for submission to the meeting of the Authority on 26 July 2003.

8. Implementation of Recommendation 61 of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry

(Agenda item 8a)

This report set out progress by the MPS in implementing Recommendation 61 since the last meeting of the Board.

considered in conjunction with

Hackney Recommendation 61 monitoring group - progress report

(Agenda item 8b)

A local monitoring group with representation from the local authority community and voluntary organisations has been monitoring the implementation of Recommendation 61 (police stops) in Hackney since the implementation of the pilot on 1 April 2003. A progress report was submitted which also brought to the attention of the Board a number of the issues that the monitoring group have been considering and outlines the proposed next phase of the work of the group.

The Board noted that there was evidence of reluctance on the part of many of those stopped in Hackney to wait for the form to be completed and that the 16 recording categories were proving to be of limited value in view of the disparate nature of those who chose the “other” category and the fact that the forms took no account of individual borough demographics.

Members reiterated the point made at previous meetings that they had anticipated many of these difficulties at the planning stage.

The Chair pointed out that the report by the Commissioner contained no information on the IT pilot, not even the borough where it might be implemented. She said that it was important that members of the Board had the opportunity to consider specific proposals concerning the IT pilot before it was introduced. It was noted that the next meeting of the Board was scheduled for 16 October which was after the IT pilot was due to start. It was agreed that a special meeting of Board members be held when the MPS was in a position to put forward definite proposals for the IT pilot with details of the hand held device to be used and links to the MPS main frame and Police National Computer. The meeting requested that an MPS officer attend the special meeting who could answer detailed questions on the IT aspects.

With regard to the report by the Clerk the meeting noted that recommendation 3 should be amended by deleting the phrase “by Hackney officers” to reflect the evidence reported at paragraphs 13 and 14. Lee Jasper drew attention to the GLA Refugee Forum, which might be contacted to provide input for the refugee community in Hackney.

Resolved – On agenda item 8a That

1. the report be noted; and
2. members of the Board meet MPS officers to consider specific proposals for the IT pilot.

On agenda item 8b That

1. the terms of reference and success measures of the Monitoring Group be agreed;
2. the funding proposal for the training and information for the refugee community in Hackney be agreed;
3. the issues raised in paragraphs 13 – 14 concerning the low level of compliance in completing the Recommendation 61 ‘stops’ form be noted; and
4. the proposal outlined in paragraphs 20 – 22 for the local event to inform the public on the progress of the implementation in Hackney be agreed.

9. Stop and Search Scrutiny

(Agenda item 9)

A report was considered which updated the Board on the progress of the scrutiny into the disproportionality aspects of stop and search.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

10. MPS diversity strategy

(Agenda item 10)

The Board received a report updating members on the progress and current position of the MPS Diversity Strategy.

Further to paragraph 12 the Diversity Director reported that it had been decided that the Domestic Violence risk assessment model would not be implemented across the MPS. Commander Dick also undertook to speak to Kirsten Hearn concerning the arrangements for considering issues around crimes against vulnerable groups.

In reply to a question concerning the much higher percentage of VEMs amongst Police Community Support Officers compared with police officers the Director of HR informed the meeting that work would be done to identify reasons for this trend when there had been further recruitment of PCSOs.

Members referred to statistics which had been presented at previous meetings which had shown the breakdown for specialist units by gender and ethnicity. This had shown that there were areas where there was severe under- representation by key groups. A report was requested which showed the progress made since then and to show performance against targets. Similar information was requested showing the situation for the borough Operational Command Units. The Board acknowledged that some of the specialist units were very small but stressed that radical action should be considered in order to ensure that there was ethnic minority representation across all areas of the MPS.

Resolved – That

1. the report be noted; and
2. the MPS submits a report to the next meeting of the Board which:
   • lists the current female and VEM presence in each OCU and BOCU and for each of the last three financial years;
   • identifies recruitment targets for all OCUs and BOCUs including New Scotland Yard management directorates (including CO24); and
   • identifies the most obvious trends in the reasons for the under-representation of women and VEMs in OCUs and BOCUs.

11. Race Hate Crimes Forum

(Agenda item 11)

A report was submitted on the issues discussed at the first meeting of the Race Hate Crimes Forum which was held on 7 July and work to be progressed.

Resolved - That

1. the priorities that will be immediately progressed by the Forum identified in paragraph 5 be noted; and
2. members recommend to the Forum that it looks into the funding of local racial incidents panel and make recommendations to the EODB and other key agencies for addressing this.

12. Long term trends in racist and homophobic crime performance

(Agenda item 12)

A report was submitted which summarised the long-term trends in racist and homophobic crime, volume and performance within the MPS over the previous five years. Overall trends by gender and ethnicity were detailed and possible explanations given for trends.

In reply to a question from a member Commander Dick confirmed that all racist crimes were recorded including that where the victim was white.

The MPA Analyst pointed out that the report did not include information on the number of judicial disposals which might have been of interest to the Board. In reply the Diversity Director stated that this information would need to be placed in context.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

13. GLA group best value review of equalities

(Agenda item 13)

In 2001/2 the MPA took part in the GLA Group Equalities for All Best Value Review of Equalities. The report made a number of recommendations, which officers have been progressing. The report brings to members attention the recently published report by the Audit Commission and outlines the outstanding work which the Authority will need to progress in order to achieve the timescales outlined in the report recommendation.

Lee Jasper said that an action plan for the Best Value review would need to be considered by the MPA.

Commander Dick pointed out that there had been several recent inspections into matters within the scope of the Diversity Directorate with some (inevitable) overlap both between the scope of the inspections and in the recommendations made. It was proposed to submit a report to the next meeting of the Board which would list all the recommendations in these reports together with a unified action plan. This would include the HMIC report into CRR training – both the thematic and that part containing recommendations specific to the MPS and the report by Sir Herman Ouseley into the Diversity Strategy.

Resolved - That

1. the summary and recommendations arising from the Audit Commission inspection of the review be noted;
2. it be noted that the timescale for achieving level 5 of the Equality Standard by 2005 is highly ambitious and that to do so has resources implications;
3. agree, subject to the decision on recommendation 2, that the Authority work towards achieving Level 3 of the Equality Standard by Summer 2004;
4. agree that as required by the GLA, the MPA undertake to develop a comprehensive Service Improvement Plan to meet one of the key recommendations of the Review; and
5. a report be submitted to the next meeting which draws together the recommendations from all the recent reports made into the work of the Diversity Directorate and presents a unified action plan.

14. MPA independent evaluation of the MPS Community and Race Relations (CRR) training

(Agenda item 14)

The MPA independent evaluation of the MPS Diversity (CRR) training started in October and the final report is scheduled to be available in September. A report was considered which provided an overview of the progress of the project to date, highlighted some of the areas of difficulty and proposed a process for receiving the final report.

Commander Dick stated that the MPS would wish to see the final report of the evaluation prior to its publication and submission to the Board at its October meeting.

Resolved -

1. the progress of the project and the issues that are likely to affect its conclusion be noted;
2. the process outlined in paragraph 7 for receiving the final report from the project consultants be agreed; and
3. the project expenditure for the additional questions included in the Association of Local Government annual Local Authority survey be noted.

15. 2004/05 budget and equalities guidance

(Agenda item 15)

The Mayor published his guidance for the preparation of the 2004/05 budget and medium term financial plan which includes specific guidance on equalities. A report was submitted which included key elements of the guidance and a proposed timetable for producing the equalities submission to co-ordinate with the overall Authority submission.

Resolved- That

1. the equalities guidance for 2004/05 issued by the Mayor be noted; and
2. the proposed timetable and the suggestion for a sounding board of members to be available to review the submission be agreed. Members of the sounding board are Cecile Wright and Graham Tope with Kirsten Hearn available to discuss the submission if necessary.

16. Recruitment Task Force – oral update

(Agenda item 16)

The Clerk reported that a meeting of the task force had been held on 8 July. It has been agreed that the work of the task force was reaching its conclusion. A final meeting would be held, probably in September, following which a report would be submitted to an Authority meeting on how the task force had discharged its remit.

Resolved - That the oral report be noted.

17. Equality and diversity implications in reports considered by MPA Committees

(Agenda item 17)

A report was submitted which summarised some of the key equality and diversity issues identified in reports considered at recent meetings of the Authority’s Committees.

Resolved - That the information be noted.

The meeting closed at 5.10 p.m. having been suspended for a few minutes shortly beforehand due to the building being evacuated.

Send an e-mail linking to this page

Feedback