Minutes - draft

Minutes of the Equal Opportunity & Diversity Board held on 20 May 2004 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Cecile Wright (Chair)
• Kirsten Hearn
• Graham Tope
• Abdal Ullah
• Rachel Whittaker
• R. David Muir (Deputy Chair, MPA) also attended.

 MPA officers

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

MPS officers

• Sir Ian Blair (Deputy Commissioner)
• Commander Steve Allen (Diversity Director)
• Commander Broadhurst
• Martin Tiplady (Director of Human Resources)
• Denise Milani (Director, DOIT)
• Avril Cooper (HR Planning and Performance).

Co-opted members - Lee Jasper

Part 1

71. Introductions and apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from Peter Herbert (Deputy Chair), Toby Harris and the Rev. Stephen Penrose.

The Chair reminded the Board that the meeting on 1 April had been cancelled. The report on Acting Sergeants, which had been on the agenda for that meeting, would now be submitted to the Human Resources Committee.

The Chair referred to the fact that this was her last meeting of the Board as she was leaving the Authority on 3 July. She said it had been a great honour to be the first Chair of the Board and felt that much had been achieved in the relatively short time since the Board was established. The Chair thanked all members of the Board for their support and the officers from both the MPA and MPS for their dedication and hard work.

Members and officers returned thanks and extended best wishes to Cecile for the future.

72. Declarations of interests

(Agenda item 2)

No declarations were made.

73. Minutes of the Meeting Held On 5 February 2004

(Agenda item 3)

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 5 February 2004 be agreed and signed as a correct record.

74. Chair and Members’ Update

(Agenda item 4)

There were none.

75. Stop and Search Scrutiny

(Agenda item 5)

The final report of the MPA’s Scrutiny Panel on stop and search practice was submitted. It proposed that the Board accept the report and submit it to the Authority for its acceptance.

The Chair referred to the fact that the report had been launched immediately before the meeting and it would therefore not be appropriate to consider it in detail again. However, she wished to place on record her thanks to the members of the panel for their commitment and perseverance over the many months of the evidence sessions and to Tim Rees who had coordinated the work of the Panel and who had written the final report. Thanks were also due to the Deputy Commissioner in particular for the positive approach taken by the MPS to the scrutiny. She felt that the scrutiny process had been a useful, even if on occasion perhaps slightly uncomfortable, experience for all concerned and considered that the recommendations in the report would be of general benefit for the future use of the stop and search practice. She was pleased to see that the MPS had already signalled that they accepted the recommendations relating to them.

The Deputy Commissioner confirmed that a gold group had been established to consider the implementation of the recommendations pertaining to the MPS. DAC Carole Howlett would chair the group and the Chair of the Board had been invited to be a member of the gold group. The remaining membership would be determined in due course.

Dr. R. David Muir said he wished to express gratitude on behalf of the Authority to the Chair for carrying out this important and challenging task. He welcomed the appointment of the Chair to the MPS gold group but felt it would also be advisable for a serving MPA member to take a lead role in the implementation of the report.

Resolved - That

1. the recommendations of the final report be noted; and
2. the report be forwarded to the Authority for its acceptance.

76. Annual Report of the Board

(Agenda item 6)

A report was submitted which summarised the work of the Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board for the year 2003/04.

Resolved – That the annual report be agreed as representing the Board’s work over the last year for submission to the Authority.

77. Implementation Of Recommendation 61 Of The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry

(Agenda item 7a)

This report reports on the extent to which the implementation in Hackney and Tower Hamlets have met the aims stated aims of Recommendation 61, and the plans that will need to be put in place for the proposed London-wide implementation of Recommendation 61 in autumn 2004.

Abdal Ullah reported that a meeting would be held in Tower Hamlets to hold a six month review of the pilot in that borough. Attendance was welcome from members or officers.

Resolved - That

1. the emerging findings of the Home Office report regarding trust and confidence in the practice be noted;
2. the MPS be asked to agreed bring a further report on the recording of stops, in light of the Home Office findings; and
3. the option for monitoring the implementation outlined in Appendix 1 be agreed subject to further developmental work being out.

78. Implementation Of Recommendation 61

(Agenda item 7b)

This report provided an update on the progress and proposed implementation of the Lawrence Report across the MPS from October 2004.

Resolved - That the proposed implementation be noted.

79. Diversity Recommendations Review

(Agenda item 8)

A report was considered which provided an update on the progress made within the MPS Diversity Directorate over the past four years together with ongoing and future developments.

The Head of Race and Diversity reported that some further information had been received since the despatch of the agenda and this would be circulated to members as a briefing paper,

As part of a brief discussion about the possible shape of the new MPS Diversity Strategy, a member made the point that the MPS would need to look afresh at how diversity is brigaded within the organisation. The Chair said it was important not to lose sight of the work that had been undertaken on the evaluation of the MPS CRR training and suggested that a report be submitted to the next meeting.

Resolved - That

1. the report be noted; and
2. a position report on the implementation of the evaluation of the MPS CRR training be submitted to the next meeting of the Board.

80. Corporate Equalities Policy And Race Equality Impact Assessments

(Agenda item 9)

One of the core requirements of the Equality Standard for Local Government is the need for the development of equalities policies for each of the equality groups. Although the MPA has had an equal opportunities in place for some time, it has not, until recently developed a full suite of equalities policies. This report discusses the work that has been done in presenting these to the Board for its approval. It also updates members of the progress with the development of Race Equality Impact Assessments, highlights some of the key issues that have emerged and outlines the progress that has been made in the work with the MPS Policy Clearing House in agreeing the MPS policies that will be quality assured by the MPA.

Kirsten Hearn felt that there should be more policies directly relevant to the transgender community

Resolved – That

1. the draft policies and agree the process outlined for approving these be noted;
2. the issues arising from the Racial Equality Impact Assessment process be noted; ; and
3. the progress made in quality assuring key MPS policies be noted.

81. Race Hate Crimes Forum

(Agenda item 10)

A report was submitted which provided an update on the work progressed by the Forum and details of meetings which are to be held with the Borough Commanders and local authority Chief Executives with the highest recorded hate crime.

Resolved - That -

1. the appointment of the Coordinator for the Forum be noted; and
2. the work that the Forum is currently progressing be noted.

82. Performance Management Information

(Agenda item 11)

A report was submitted which provided equal opportunities and diversity management information.

Resolved - That the information and emerging trends be noted

83. Equality And Diversity Implications In Reports Considered At MPA Committees

(Agenda item 12)

This report summarised some of the key issues identified in reports considered at recent meetings of the Authority’s Committees and the decisions taken.

Resolved - That

1. the report be noted; and
2. the form and content of the relevant section of committee reports be re-structured to reflect the requirement to conduct equalities impact assessments of all policies and decisions.

The meeting closed at 4.12 p.m.

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