Minutes

Minutes of the Equal Opportunity & Diversity Board held on 2 September 2004 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Kirsten Hearn (Chair)
• John Roberts (Deputy Chair)
• Lynne Featherstone
• Damian Hockney
• Aneeta Prem

Also in attendance: Karim Murji

 MPA officers

• Catherine Crawford (Clerk)
• Hamida Ali
• Doug Lewins (Policy Officer, CDO)
• Elizabeth Turner (Management Accountant)
• Jane Owen (Head of Performance)
• Gemma Walters (Performance Analyst)
• Vicky Knight (Consultation Coordinator Community Engagement Unit)
• Peter Day (Race and Diversity Unit)
• John Crompton (Committee Services)

MPS officers

• Deputy Assistant Commissioner Carole Howlett
• Commander Steve Allen (Diversity Director)
• Superintendent Martin Bagg
• Chief Inspector Gary Lewis (Representing Commander Robert Broadhurst, TPHQ)
• Linda Van Den Hende (Director Strategic Disability Team)
• Glen Allison attended for consideration of agenda item 11

Part 1

1. Introductions and apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from Cindy Butts and Peter Herbert. Apologies were also submitted from Lee Jasper and Denise Milani

2. Declarations of interests

Agenda item 2)

No declarations were made.

3. Minutes of the meeting held on 20 May 2004

(Agenda item 3)

Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting held on 20 May 2004 be agreed and signed as a correct record.

4. Chair and members’ update

(Agenda item 4)

No updates were given.

5. Disabled people and the police

(Agenda item 5)

The MPA has commissioned GLAD to produce a background paper on policing issues affecting disabled people. This will form the basis of a discussion at a community conference to be held on 7 October organised by GLAD on behalf of the MPA. It is intended that the conference will form the basis for a MPA strategy on engaging with disabled people in London.

The Director Strategic Disability Team said the MPS welcomed this further piece of research and referred to work that had been done which led to the establishment of the Disability IAG.

In reply to a question, the Consultation Coordinator advised that MPA members and other non-disabled people would be welcome to attend the conference as observers. A report from the conference would be submitted to the Community Engagement Committee.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

6. Presentation by Ossie Stuart

(Agenda item 6)

Ossie Stuart from Greater London Acton on Disability gave a presentation on the findings of the review he had recently undertaken into disabled people and policing.

On behalf of the Board, the Chair thanked Ossie Stuart for the presentation. She also advised members of moves to establish a national disabled staff association within the police service.

Resolved - That the presentation be noted.

7. Lead members

(Agenda item 7)

A report was submitted which asked the Board to review and its lead member positions. The Chair referred to the discussion which was due to take place at the end of the meeting on the work programme and suggested that the appointment of lead members should form part of that discussion.

Accordingly, the Board agreed that this report be considered as part of the discussion on the work programme for the coming year (agenda item 16).

8. Format of meetings and co-opted members

(Agenda item 8)

A report was submitted which reviewed the arrangements for appointing the co-opted members of the Board and outlined a change to the format of some of the meetings.

The Chair referred to the discussion which was due to take place at the end of the meeting on the work programme and suggested that the appointment of co-opted members should form part of that discussion as it would be clearer which gaps should be filled.

Resolved - That

1. the full Authority be asked to ratify the re-appointment of Lee Jasper as a co-opted member of the Board; and
2. the changes to the format of the meeting of the Board outlined at paragraph 8 be supported.

9. Proposed restructuring of the MPS Diversity Directorate

(Agenda item 9)

A report was submitted which outlined the proposed changes to the Diversity Directorate. It outlined proposals for parts of the Directorate to move into Territorial Policing and the Serious Crime Directorate and for the remainder to reorganise its structure and approach in order to maximise the Directorate’s contribution to the MPS strategic policing agenda.

The Diversity Director advised that it was intended that the new arrangements would be in place by 1 April 2005 although the changes would depend on the finding of the Morris Inquiry.

In reply to a question from John Roberts, the Director of Diversity explained that the comments received on the proposals had included concerns about a dilution in the quality of the product currently delivered by the Directorate. The Director went on to outline his proposals for training and for evaluating the effectiveness of the restructuring.

In summing up the discussion the Chair said that there were clearly some points still to be resolved and there was a need for further consultation during the process and it was therefore possible to offer qualified support at this time. On that basis it was -

Resolved - That the reconfiguration be supported.

10. Implementation of Recommendation 61

(Agenda item 10a)

A report from the Commissioner was submitted which detailed the progress of the implementation of Recommendation 61 of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry report.

Members expressed disquiet at the delays in starting the training and the effect this could have on the success of the roll out on 1 October. The Board felt that there should be any change to the starting date but It was agreed that a letter be sent to the Deputy Commissioner from John Roberts on the point about the training especially that on handing critical encounters. Chief Inspector Lewis confirmed that it was unlikely that many, if any, officers would have been given the training there would have been. He assured the Board that there would have been a full training in time for the national start date of 1 April 2005.

Resolved - That

1. the report be noted; and
2. the Deputy Chair write to the Deputy Commissioner to express the Board’s concern at the delays in introducing training.

11. Implementation of Recommendation 61

(Agenda item 10b)

A report from the Clerk was submitted which detailed the progress of the implementation of Recommendation 61 including information on local monitoring and publicity

Resolved - That the report be noted.

12. MPS race equality scheme

(Agenda item 11)

A report was submitted which outlined the progress made by the MPS in producing a compliant Race Equality Scheme. The report gave information on the observations and criticisms made in respect of the Scheme by the Commission for Racial Equality and the steps being undertaken to address these points.

Mr Allison outlined the round of meetings that would be held over the next few weeks in order to meet the deadline of 30 September. He stressed that the component parts of the Scheme were in place and what was needed was a means of putting these various strands together. The Clerk advised that a briefing paper on the Scheme would be circulated to members.

Resolved - That the progress made by the MPS in producing a compliant Race Equality Scheme be noted.

(Note – a letter dated 6 October from the CRE concerning compliance is enclosed for members)

13. MPA corporate equalities policies and race equality scheme

(Agenda item 12)

One of the core requirements of the Equality Standard for Local Government is the need for the development of an equalities policy that covers each of the equality strands. This report discusses the work that has been done to ensure that the MPA has such a policy and comprehensive, equality strand specific guidance that makes that policy a useable document for all affected by it. It also updates members of the progress on 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 quality assurance of MPS policies by the MPA.

The Chair said that the broad thrust of the policy was supported. She did however wish to consider further some of the wording of specific sections.

Resolved – That

1. subject to further scrutiny by the Chair, and subject to ratification by full Authority, the corporate equality policy be approved;
2. the progress on the accompanying guidance be noted;
3. the issues arising from the Racial Equality Impact Assessment process and the current position be noted; and
4. the progress made in quality assuring key MPS policies and the current position be noted.

14. Stop and search scrutiny - process for implementation

(Agenda item 13)

A report was submitted which proposed the establishment of a working group to lead on oversight of the recommendations form MPA scrutiny into MPS stop and search practices.

It was agreed that it would be appropriate for Lynne Featherstone to lead on stop and search and as such to chair the sub-group. John Roberts would continue to lead on Recommendation 61.

The Board confirmed that the MPS gold group chaired by DAC Howlett should report to the new group and not to EODB.

Resolved - That

1. a MPA Working Group be established to oversee the implementation of the Scrutiny on Stop and Search as proposed in this report;
2. the membership of the group be Lynne Featherstone, Peter Herbert (subject to his agreement), Damian Hockney and John Roberts.

15. Performance management information

(Agenda item 14)

A report detailing equal opportunities and diversity management up to June 2004 was submitted.

The Chair said it would be appropriate for the officers to review the contents and style of presentation of these management information reports to ensure that they reflected what members required and that it was submitted at the appropriate frequency. It might be more appropriate for example for a detailed report concentrating on trends to be presented to the Board only twice a year with briefings sent to members in between.

The Performance Analyst confirmed that she would be pleased to discuss members’ requirements and amend the content of the report as appropriate.

Resolved - That-

1. the management information and emerging trends be noted; and
2. consideration be given to the information to be included in future reports and the reporting arrangements.

16. Equalities budget submission

(Agenda item 15)

The Mayor has published his guidance for the preparation of the 2005/06 budget submission, which included specific guidance on equalities. A report was submitted which highlighted the key elements highlighted. A proposed timetable for producing the equalities submission to co-ordinate with the overall authority submission was set out.

Resolved – That

1. the equalities guidance for 2005/06 issued by the Mayor be noted, and
2. in view of the deadline for submission, the bid be approved by the Clerk in consultation with the Chair.

17. Discussion on work priorities

(Agenda item 16)

The Chair said that the priorities identified would in some cases extend beyond the work programme for a single year.

Members and officers then discussed the achievements of the Board so far and identified some possible areas of work for the future. It was agreed that the policy officers would write up the results of the discussion and that all who had participated be invited to attend an informal follow-up discussion to be held at the end of September or early October. It was also agreed that the policy officers would carry out a gap analysis to inform the debate at this discussion. The Board would then formally agree the work programme at its next meeting. The Board agreed that decisions on lead and co-opted members be deferred until decisions had been made about the work programme

The meeting closed at 4.40 p.m.

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