Minutes - draft

Please note these minutes are currently draft and are subject to committee approval.

Minutes of the Equal Opportunity & Diversity Board held on 5 February 2004 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Cecile Wright (Chair)
• Peter Herbert (Deputy Chair)
• Toby Harris (for agenda item 5)
• Kirsten Hearn
• Graham Tope (for agenda items 1 to 5 and 13)
• Rachel Whittaker

 MPA officers

• Catherine Crawford (Clerk)
• Julia Smith (Head of Race and Diversity)
• Ken Hunt (Deputy Treasurer)
• Tim Rees (Acting Head of Consultation)
• John Crompton (Committee Services)

MPS officers

• Commander Steve Allen (Diversity Director)
• Martin Tiplady (Director of Human Resources)
• Denise Milani (Director, DOIT)
• Avril Cooper (HR Planning and Performance)

Co-opted members - Lee Jasper

Part 1

54. Introductions and apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from Abdal Ullah, Rev. Stephen Penrose and Commander Broadhurst.

55. Declarations of interests

(Agenda item 2)

No declarations were made.

56. Minutes of the meeting held on 4 December 2003

(Agenda item 3)

Lee Jasper reported that he had submitted apologies, which had not been recorded.

Resolved - That subject to the inclusion of an apology for absence from Lee Jasper, the minutes of the meeting held on 4 December 2003 be agreed and signed as a correct record.

57. Chair and Members’ update

(Agenda item 4)

The Chair reported that amongst her activities she had attended a service at Westminster Abbey for victims of gun crime and had attended the launch of Breaking Through.

Kirsten Hearn reported that she attended several meetings in connection with disability issues. This has included speaking on policing matters at the London Disability Conference in December, and more recently she had met representatives of the MPS Disabled Staff Association.

The Chair reminded the Board that there was an outstanding request for disability training for members. The Diversity Director stated that the MPS was holding an event in March, which members may wish to be involved in.

Other members reported on their MPA activities.

58. Presentation by Denise Milani, Director, DOIT

(Agenda item 5)

Denise Milani the Director of the MPS Development and Organisation Team gave a presentation on ENGENDER, one of the strands of the MPS gender agenda. Various initiatives had been launched to assist in the recruitment and retention of women working in the MPS. In reply to a question, the Director of DOIT advised that so far the option of working part time had only been offered to existing police officers.

Rachel Whittaker referred to one of the original strands of recruitment for PCSOs concerning the ability to work more flexible hours than police officers and asked whether this had proved to be an attraction in practice. The Director of Human Resources stated that there had not yet been any detailed analysis of the recruitment pattern for PCSOs.

The Board proceeded to consider this item in conjunction with agenda item 13.

Resolved - That the presentation be noted.

59. Gender and minority ethnic strength and progression

(Agenda item 13)

This report built on information supplied on a report considered by the Board at its meeting on 17 July 2003. It provided further information and analysis on areas requested by members.

Lee Jasper said that his rough calculations showed that on the present rate of progress a fully representative workforce might not be achieved until well into the century which was not acceptable. The Director of Human Resources stressed that whilst it was fairly certain that targets would be met for the current year this had been a challenging process. He felt that as much as possible was being done through targeted recruitment to achieve a representative workforce. Because of the anticipated lower number of recruits in coming years, further improvements in this regard would depend on the leaver profile.

Peter Herbert said he was also concerned at the long time it was anticipated that it would take to achieve a wholly representative workforce. It was also disappointing to see that the data showed that the specialist units continued to be less successful in achieving workforce proportionality. He felt that the Authority needed to consider how it could achieve a more fully representative workforce as soon as possible. This would include looking at the options for introducing some form of positive discrimination, which would need to involve a discussion of the legislative position – including Police Regulations, and how this would need to be changed.

The Chair said she had concerns over aspects of the recruitment of acting Sergeants. It was acknowledged that there was a shortage of Sergeants, but on the grounds of public reassurance she would question whether it was appropriate that acting Sergeants should wear the extra stripe regardless of whether or not they had undertaken the Personal Development Review. It was requested that a detailed report on this subject be submitted to the next meeting.

Resolved – That

1. the report be noted.
2. a report be submitted to the next meeting on the outstanding points from the Recruitment Task Force, an examination of what steps could be taken to introduce targeted recruitment and what implications there might be in terms of for example, the need to press for legislative change.
3. a report be submitted to the next meeting on the recruitment of acting Sergeants.

60. Implementation of Recommendation 61 of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry

(Agenda item 6a)

A report was considered which outlined the progress made by police officers of recording all stops and stop and searches.

The Diversity Director reported that new simplified stop and search forms were now in use in Hackney and said that he would arrange to send copies to members of the Board.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

61. Monitoring Groups

(Agenda item 6b)

This report provided an update on the Recommendation 61 Monitoring Group in Hackney.

The Chair said it was unfortunate that no MPS officers who were closely involved in the work being carried out in Hackney or Tower Hamlets were present at the meeting to answer members detailed questions.

The Head of Race and Diversity undertook to supply Lee Jasper with details of the breakdown on ethnicity for Tower Hamlets.

Concern was expressed regarding the lack of analysis especially of the disproportionality aspect. This should be rectified as soon as possible and if necessary a special meeting of the Board be held. The Head of Race and Diversity stated that there was a shortage of analytical skills both within the MPA and MPS.

Resolved -That

1. Assistant Commissioner Godwin be advised of the difficulties being caused by the lack of adequate analysis on the data;
2. the proposals in paragraphs 12 and 13 concerning London-wide implementation be supported;
3. a detailed report containing an analysis of the data be submitted to the Board as a matter of urgency; and
4. Representatives from Hackney and Tower Hamlets be present at meetings to respond to specific questions.

62. Stop and Search Scrutiny – oral report

(Agenda item 7)

The Acting Head of Consultation gave an oral update on the progress of the scrutiny. The programme of evidence sessions was now complete and work had commenced on drafting the report.

Resolved - That the oral report be noted.

63. Diversity recommendations review

(Agenda item 8)

A report was considered which provided an update on the MPS process to examine, consolidate and refresh recommendations from diversity reports. It also provided an assessment of progress against each of the recommendations arising from the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry.

Resolved - That

1. the report be noted; and
2. a position report on the recommendations be submitted to the next meeting of the Board.

64. APA/ACPO Race and Diversity Audit template

(Agenda item 9)

The Association of Chief Police Officers and the Association for Police Authorities have developed a Race and Diversity Audit template that they have asked all forces to complete by March 2004. As a response is required before the next meeting of the Board a proposed means of completing the audit was outlined in the report.

Resolved – That the Chairs of EODB and the Human Resources Committee with the Clerk, Head of Human Resources and Head of Race and Diversity form part of the MPS group that will be responsible for signing off the completed template.

65. Local Government Equality Standard

(Agenda item 10)

A report was considered which updated the Board on the work that will be required by the Authority to achieve its target for achieving levels 1 to 3 of the Local Government Equality Standard.

Members commented that the timescale outlined in paragraph 3 was ambitious.

Kirsten Hearn confirmed that she was willing to be nominated as the lead member.

Resolved - That

1. the timescales outlined in paragraph 3 be noted;
2. the challenge that will be placed on the Authority, and the potential resource implications in progressing to Level 2 of the Standard be noted;
3. the process outlined for contracting further consultants to assist with this project be agreed; and
4. Kirsten Hearn be the lead member for progressing this work.

66. Race Equality Impact Assessments

(Agenda item 11)

In order to meet the specific duty of the Race Relation (Amendment) Act 2000, MPA officers have been carrying out impact assessments on a number of policies. A report was considered which outlined the process that has been put into place for impact assessment and brought to members’ attention developments underway to refine and improve the process.

The Head of Race and Diversity stressed that the draft assessments that had been circulated to members only had not been quality assured. In reply to a question from the Chair, the Clerk confirmed that the assessments could be made available to all MPA members.

Lee Jasper referred to work being undertaken by the GLA to build up a comprehensive geographically based database to assist in the compilation of impact assessments. He suggested that the MPA should examine how it might have access to this database.

Resolved – That

1. the draft impact assessments that have been completed be noted;
2. the process outlined in paragraphs 8 and 9 for refining and improving the processes and guidance developed by the MPA and the MPS be noted;
3. the process outlined in paragraph 5 for signing-off the annual progress report to be submitted to the Commission for Racial Equality be agreed; and
4. MPA officers engage in consultation with the GLA about the possible shared use of the database being developed to assist in the compilation of impact assessments.

67. Internal cultural attitude surveys - oral report

(Agenda item 12)

The Head of Race and Diversity reported that she had discussed the survey with the Director of DOIT. In view of the changes in the MPS Diversity Directorate, it was now intended to submit a report to a future meeting of the Board.

Resolved - That the oral report be noted.

68. Procurement strategy

(Agenda item 14)

The Finance Committee approved the procurement strategy at its meeting on 18 December 2003. The strategy was referred to the Board for consideration of the equalities and diversity implications.

Members commented on the lack of detailed information on the equalities and diversity aspects and how they would be monitored. Members stressed the need for continual monitoring of compliance of firms, which might include dip-sampling.

Resolved - That

1. the equalities and diversity impact of the procurement strategy be noted; and
2. a report be submitted to a future meeting setting out more details of how the equalities aspects of contracts is monitored and which outlines the equalities profile of contracts over £5 million.

69. Equality and Diversity implications in reports considered at MPA Committees since the last meeting of the Board

(Agenda item 15)

This report considered the equalities and diversities in MPA committees and summarises some of the key issues identified in reports considered at recent meetings of the Authority’s Committees. The report also contained an initial evaluation of how effectively the equality and diversity implications are being addressed in committee reports.

The Board noted that the report template would be amended to incorporate a heading for the race impact assessments.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

70. Meeting arrangements

(Agenda item 16)

A report was considered which sought member’s views on a revised format for forthcoming meetings in which alternate meetings would follow a ‘scrutiny’ format.

The Clerk said that in view of the reports that the Board had requested to come to its April meeting it did not appear that the new arrangements could be fully trialled at that meeting.

Resolved - That

1. the proposed format for meetings be endorsed; and
2. when the format has been trialled it be recommended to the incoming Chair of the Board.

The meeting closed at 4.50 p.m.

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