Minutes

Minutes of the Equal Opportunity & Diversity Board held on 16 October 2003 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Cecile Wright (Chair)
• Kirsten Hearn
• Peter Herbert
• Graham Tope
• Rachel Whittaker

 MPA officers

• Catherine Crawford (Clerk)
• Ken Hunt (Deputy Treasurer)
• Julia Smith (Policy Officer, CDO)
• Tim Rees (Policy Development Officer)
• John Crompton (Committee Services)

MPS officers

• Sir Ian Blair (Deputy Commissioner)
• Commander Steve Allen (Diversity Director)
• Commander Bob Broadhurst (Territorial Policing HQ)
• Chief Superintendent Rob Jarman (Diversity Directorate)
• Gordon Davison (Directorate of Human Resources)
• Denise Milani (Director DOIT)

Co-opted members - Georgina English (CRE), Lee Jasper (GLA), Bharti Patel (Refugee Council) and Rev. Stephen Penrose

Part 1

18. Introductions and apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from Charlene Brown, Toby Harris, Jason Lever and Abdal Ullah. It was noted that Georgina English was deputising for George Mills who was the new representative of the CRE.

The Policy Officer, CDO, apologised for the fact that due to her recent illness several reports, including some with detailed appendices, had been circulated less than two days before the meeting. The Clerk said she accepted that this had caused considerable inconvenience for members and gave an assurance that in future reports would not be sent out after the main agenda despatch unless they required an urgent decision.

Members pointed out that under the legislation late reports could only be considered on the grounds of urgency. It was agreed that only the reports sent out in support of agenda items 10 and 12 fell into this category.

19. Declarations of interests

(Agenda item 2)

No declarations were made.

20. Minutes of the meeting held on 17 July 2003

(Agenda item 3)

Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting held on 17 July 2003 be agreed and signed as a correct record.

21. Chair and Members’ update

(Agenda item 4)

The Chair reported that amongst her activities since the last meeting of the Board she had attended an MPS disability event. She felt it would be appropriate if the Authority were to arrange its own disabilities event. The Clerk agreed to commission such an event, which would be for MPA members and staff.

Peter Herbert reported that he had recently been in contact with a group in St. Petersburg who were planning to visit London and hoped that the MPA would be involved in the visit.

Other members reported on their MPA activities.

22. Presentation from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Advisory Group

(Agenda item 5)

Bob Hodgson, Co-Chair of the LGBT Advisory Group gave a presentation on the work of the group. He explained that up to now its activities had largely concentrated on areas such as providing advice and input to the MPS at a central, strategic level. For the future an increasing focus for the Group would be on the boroughs through for example the establishment of local LGBT forums. The Advisory Group was also seeking an assurance that there would be a dedicated permanent LGBT liaison officer in each borough.

Commander Allen confirmed that the MPS was committed to the provision of the liaison officers as requested by the Advisory Group.

The Board thanked Mr. Hodgson for his presentation and asked to be kept advised of the work of the Advisory Group. The Clerk said that she would arrange for him to be supplied with a list of MPA link members and the contact details for the community and police consultative groups, which would be of assistance in establishing links at a borough level.

Resolved - That the presentation be noted.

23. Diversity strategies and recommendations

(Agenda item 6a)

A report was considered which quantified and mapped the diversity related strategies and recommendations currently being progressed by the MPS.

The Chair pointed out that the report did not refer to internal report such as those made by the Internal Consultancy Group and Sir Herman Ouseley into the Diversity Strategy which it had been understood were to be part of the remit. In reply, Chief Supt. Jarman confirmed that these items would be included in a subsequent report.

Lee Jasper said he supported the proposal to hold a Forum to conduct a review of all the recommendations and provide a co-ordinated approach to their implementation. He felt that City Hall would be a very suitable venue for the Forum and it should be possible for accommodation to be made available free of charge.

Resolved -That

1. the report be noted; and
2. the proposals to hold a Forum level meeting be supported.

24. Race, equal opportunities and diversity strategic policy objectives composite report

(Agenda item 6b)

This report was not considered.

25. HIV and policing policy

(Agenda item 7)

At its meeting on 1 May 2003 the Board received a presentation and short report on HIV and policing. A report was submitted which provided further details on the subject. A revised HIV policy was also presented together with the Policy Managers Guidance.

Stephen Penrose said he was grateful for the opportunity to comment on the report at an early stage.

In reply to questions it was confirmed that there would be an impact assessment of the policy prior to the further report being submitted to the Board.

Resolved – That

1. the report be noted;
2. the revised policy be endorsed; and
3. the arrangements for monitoring the effectiveness of the policy be noted and a further report on this aspect be submitted in six months time.

26. 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.

Commander Broadhurst confirmed that the Home Secretary had announced that Recommendation 61 would be implemented nationally by April 2005. A sample of a handheld IT terminal and printer were viewed by members. There was general concern that the equipment was bulky and in particular the fact that the printer was not integral might cause serious operational difficulties. It was noted that although other police services were using IT pilots no solution, fully suitable for the MPS, appeared to be on offer.

The Deputy Commissioner said that there should be agreement about the “fitness for purpose” of the equipment and that this should only be rolled out in Tower Hamlets if it was compatible with the rest of the IT systems in the MPS.

The Board agreed that if the MPS had already purchased the units then the pilot in Tower Hamlets should be carried out. However, in view of the clear misgivings about the equipment it might be better not to proceed with the IT pilot if this was not the case. Members expressed some impatience about the delay in finding a suitable IT solution. They would expect the forthcoming introduction of C3i to be of some benefit as far as stop and search was concerned.

Commander Broadhurst said he was not in a position to advise whether an order had actually been placed for the hand held units it was intended to be used in Tower Hamlets. The Chair said that her understanding was the devices had been purchased and were ready for use subject to the need to carry out further work to ensure compatibility with other IT systems.

The Chair said it was clear that the position needed to be clarified and it was agreed that a letter be sent to the Board setting out the position.

(note – a letter to the Chair of the Board is appended to the minutes for members)

Resolved – That

1. a letter be sent to members setting out the position with regard to whether the MPS was committed to purchasing the IT equipment; and
2. the IT pilot in Tower Hamlets be introduced, only if it is established that the MPS has purchased the equipment.

27. Recommendation 61 monitoring group - progress report

(Agenda item 8b)

The report was not considered.

28. 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.

29. Budget equalities submission to the Greater London Authority

(Agenda item 10)

The Mayor requires each functional body to develop a separate budget submission outlining the rationale and budget to meet their equalities responsibilities. The budget submission, which proposes the further development and implementation of those activities that will form the core policy objectives of the Board for the forthcoming year was considered.

The Board agreed to receive this report as an urgent item in view of the timetable for the budget submission.

The Chair said she would question whether the equalities budget was sufficient for the Board to carry out all its activities in view of for example, the decision to work towards achieving level 5 of the Local Government Equalities Standard. The Clerk said she considered that the proposed activities were fully funded by the budget and referred to paragraph 9 of the report which provided an explanation.

The Deputy Commissioner pointed out that paragraph 14 of the submission referred to surveys of public confidence in the police which were out of date and requested that the more recent data be used.

Resolved - That

1. the proposed equalities and diversity policy objectives and associated budget at Appendix 2 be agreed; and
2. the draft equalities and budget submission be agreed and it be referred to the full Authority at its meeting on 30 October 2003.

30. Race Equality Scheme and impact assessment

(Agenda item 11)

This report was not considered.

31. London Race Hate Forum

(Agenda item 12)

The Board agreed to receive this report as an urgent item in view of the fact that it required a decision in connection with legal proceedings.

Peter Herbert, the Chair of the Forum, referred to the appeal to the CPS concerning the decision not to prosecute the editor of the Spectator for incitement to cause racial hatred. The Deputy Commissioner and he had been considering ways in which the CPS might be required to provide a copy of their legal advice not to prosecute.

The Deputy Commissioner said that is was extremely rare indeed for the CPS to make its legal advice known to the police or other interested parties. He felt that a more fruitful course of action would be to ask the CPS to set out a summary of the issues covered in the legal opinion.

Resolved - That

1. the work being progressed by the sub-groups and the resource implication be noted;
2. the action underway to appoint a development worker for the Forum be noted; and
3. the CPS to be asked to provide a summary of the reasons for not progressing with the prosecution of the editor of the Spectator.

32. European Year of Disabled People

(Agenda item 13)

A report was submitted which gave details of the initiatives that have taken place and those which are planned to support European Year of Disabled People. The report also set out progress towards full implementation of the Disability Discrimination Act in the Metropolitan Police Service.

Resolved - That

1. the initiatives in support of European Year of Disabled People be noted; and
2. the progress towards full implementation of the Disability Discrimination Act for employment and service provision be noted.

33. MPA evaluation of the MPS CRR training

(Agenda item 14)

This report was not considered.

34. Equal opportunities and diversity management information report

(Agenda item 15)

Equal opportunities and diversity management information up to July 2003 was submitted.

Resolved - That the information be noted.

35. MPA Internal Equal Opportunities Group

(Agenda item 16)

This report was not considered.

36. Equality and diversity implications in reports considered at MPA Committees

(Agenda item 17)

This report was not considered.

The meeting closed at 4.50 p.m.

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