Implementation of the provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act covering police officers

Report: 08b
Date: 4 November 2004
By: Commissioner
Also presented at: Human Resources Committee – 11 November 2004

Summary

Human Resources (HR) has prepared for the extension of the provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 to police officers, revising a number of key HR processes and policies, including recruitment, promotion and workforce deployment.

In order to increase awareness of the DDA, HR, in close liaison with the Strategic Disability Team, has conducted a number of workshops for HR managers. The workshops were designed to address the practical issues that they and line managers face, such as the reasonable adjustments that will need to be made for disabled officers and capability reports that will be needed from Occupational Health (OH).

The Home Office’s comprehensive guidance on the DDA has been placed on the Strategic Disability Team intranet site and has been publicised through Corporate News and in The Job. In addition, Centrex has produced a text-based learning programme for line managers dealing with employment issues, including the legal requirement to make reasonable adjustments. The programme will eventually be converted into an interactive audio-visual guide for line managers. The guide should be available early in the New Year.

A. Recommendations

That the contents of this report be noted.

B. Supporting information

1. he employment provisions of the DDA were extended to police officers on 1 October 2004. The change was celebrated in the MPS in a formal event held on 30 September 2004. From 1 October, individuals with disabilities that may previously have disbarred them from joining the police service have been able to apply to join and existing officers with disabilities will be entitled to the protections of the Act.

2. Members asked for a report dealing with the implementation of the DDA, including such issues as "recruitment, career development and promotion, training for managers and staff, and the approach to making reasonable adjustments for officers, particularly in operational roles”.

3. The attached Appendix 1 deals with all of these issues, including a matrix showing the Implementation of the Employment Provisions of the DDA in the MPS.

4. Members also wanted the report to address how the MPS is responding to the Morris Inquiry Survey as only 46% of respondents to that Survey agreed that the MPS treats people equally regardless of disability. Of course, that Survey covered police staff as well as police officers, and we do not have separate figures for police staff and police officers. In addition, the Survey was undertaken before the employment provisions of the DDA had been extended to police officers. Home Office guidance imposed blanket bans on recruiting individuals with disabilities and on existing officers with certain disabilities undertaking certain roles. For example, under Home Office guidance, which has yet to be withdrawn, diabetics are not permitted to be response drivers or firearms officers. From one standpoint, therefore, it is not surprising that only 46% of respondents agreed that the MPS treats people equally regardless of disability.

5. That said, wherever possible, the MPS policy was to comply with the spirit of the provisions of the DDA for police officers, and the DDA has covered police staff since 1995. So the Survey result is less positive than we would have wished. Work is under way to respond to the Survey, though the formal response of this will have to await the Morris Inquiry. Informal discussions with members about the Survey will take place immediately, following this Committee.

C. Race and equality impact

Please see paragraphs 4 and 5 above.

Provided the provisions of the DDA are implemented consistently, fairly and transparently, it will ensure that reasonable adjustments are made to keep officers with disabilities, wherever possible, in meaningful roles, including operational roles, and that officers with disabilities are not disadvantaged in terms of career development and promotion.

D. Financial implications

There are no immediate financial implications arising from this report.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Gordon Davison, Director HR People Development

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

Appendix 1: Implementation of the employment provisions of the DDA in the MPS

Recruitment

1. In preparation for the legislative change, the Home Office issued new medical standards for recruitment to replace the old blanket bans on individuals with certain pre-existing conditions and disabilities from applying to join the police service. As a result, individuals with conditions such as ear, nose and throat disorders, cardiovascular disorders, skin conditions and orthopaedic conditions may now apply to join the MPS and other police forces. If an applicant with a disability is rejected on medical grounds, the rejection must be justified in terms of the aspects of the job, which the applicant would be unable to carry out, even if reasonable adjustments were made.

2. The MPS Recruitment Directorate has revised its processes to ensure compliance with Home Office guidance on the new medical standards. That is, all applicants will first go to the assessment centre where their suitability to become police officers will be assessed against the national recruitment standards. Then, the pre-employment medical questionnaire will be issued only to those successful at the assessment centre. (Having the questionnaire after the assessment centre should mean that candidates with disabilities are not rejected on unlawful health grounds.) All applicants will have to pass the recruits’ job-related fitness test.

3. The Police Pension Regulations 1987 have been amended so that any new recruit who is assessed by the force medical adviser as having a pre-existing condition or a disability that presents a disproportionately high risk of early ill-health retirement will be excluded from the ill-health retirement benefits of the Police Pension Scheme. Any recruit excluded from the ill-health retirement benefits will pay a lower rate of contributions to the Pension Scheme.

4. The MPS Recruitment Directorate has secured additional cover from the MPS medical officers to manage the implementation of the DDA. All recruitment managers have been trained in the new provisions and new processes and, specifically, in the two important decisions that are needed: firstly, whether an individual, with reasonable adjustments, meets the medical standards required for entry; secondly, whether that individual should be excluded from the ill-health retirement benefits of the Pension Scheme.

5. The Director of Recruitment and the Director of HR People Development will jointly monitor the new processes to ensure that they are operating smoothly, that reasonable adjustments are considered in all cases involving applicants with a disability and that there is documentary evidence to support any decision to exclude individuals with disabilities from the ill-health retirement benefits of the Police Pension Scheme.

Career development and promotion

6. In anticipation of the extension of the employment provisions of the DDA to police officers, HR People Development, in consultation with all stakeholders, has carried out a revision of the police officers’ postings policy and the police officers’ promotion policy.

7. In the old postings policy, officers with disabilities were placed with 'welfare cases'. In the new postings policy, in response to representations from the disabled staff association, there is specific mention of the DDA and a statement to the effect that reasonable adjustments to allow an officer to remain operational may include a posting to a given (B)OCU. Should any (B)OCU commander be reluctant to take an officer with a disability in an operational role where it can be shown that the adjustments that would be needed are reasonable, the policy gives the final decision to the postings panel, with any appeal to the Director HR People Development. The new process ensures that there will be a corporate approach to the posting of officers with disabilities, overseen by HR, thereby reducing the scope for inconsistency and unfairness.

8. The promotions policy (still in draft) has a dedicated section on the DDA. The policy makes it clear that managers, when evaluating an application for promotion from an officer with a disability, must examine, with the officer’s involvement, what reasonable adjustments might need to be made to enable the officer to perform competently in the higher rank. In forming a judgment as to whether the adjustments that might need to be made are reasonable, managers must have regard to the activities and behaviours in the generic role profile for the higher rank, drawn from the Integrated Competency Framework (ICF). Each case must be considered on its merits.

9. The policy also makes it clear that some candidates may need reasonable adjustments to be made at the promotion assessment centre. In that respect, there will be some candidates who will need to be assessed outside of the generic promotion processes. Progression and Selection, working with the Strategic Disability Team, has assessed two officers with disabilities who were seeking promotion and who were unable to take part in the generic promotion assessment centres.

10. The first case involved a detective chief inspector with dyslexia where proposals for reasonable adjustments at the assessment centre were regarded as unacceptable by both the chief inspector and his line manager. All parties agreed to assess the candidate in the workplace against the national occupational standards for the higher rank. The OCU commander then conducted the assessment and recommended the chief inspector as qualified for promotion. Progression and Selection then verified the process. The candidate has now been promoted to the rank of superintendent.

11. The second case involved a detective inspector with severe visual impairment who had been unsuccessful at a previous assessment centre. He also was assessed in the workplace against the relevant national occupational standards for the higher rank. A fully qualified assessor carried out the assessment, with the assessment process verified internally by Progression and Selection and externally by the Police Skills and Standards Organisation. The individual was eventually promoted to detective chief inspector.

12. The lessons learned from these two assessments will be very valuable for the future. Of course, in deciding whether individuals should be assessed outside of corporate assessment centres, managers will have to consider whether that is a reasonable adjustment to make, taking into account all the circumstances of the case.

Training for managers and staff

13. As already noted, the Home Office’s guidance on the DDA has been placed on the Strategic Disability Team’s intranet site. The guidance covers: pensions; promotion, selection and appraisal; recruitment; serving officers; and training. Managers and staff have been encouraged to read and familiarise themselves with the guidance, through articles in The Job and Corporate News.

14. Centrex has completed a text-based learning programme, aimed primarily at line managers dealing with employment issues, including the legal requirements and reasonable adjustments. The intention is for the text-based programme to be converted into an interactive multi-media learning programme. Disabled people will be involved in all aspects of the design of the programme.

15. Sergeants and inspectors will find themselves managing officers with disabilities possibly for the first time, and the new Core Leadership Development Programme (CLDP) from Centrex includes specific guidance for them on the DDA. The Training Standards Unit is now evaluating all MPS line management training – for officers and staff - against the content of the CLDP. If there are gaps in the CLDP with respect to DDA awareness and issues, we will flag them up as part of the evaluation, which should be completed by the end of October.

The approach to making reasonable adjustments for disabled officers, particularly in operational roles

16. The MPS will comply with the statutory duty to make reasonable adjustments for all officers (and staff), including those officers in 'operational roles'. Of course, the test of reasonableness will depend on the circumstances of individual cases.

17. Home Office guidance, not yet formally withdrawn, imposed blanket bans on officers with certain conditions from performing certain roles. For example, officers with diabetes were prohibited from being firearms officers or response drivers. We are now in discussion with the Home Office and the Association of Chief Police Officers to see whether new guidance should be issued with respect to diabetic officers in high-risk roles, balancing the principle of individual assessment against the need for proper risk assessments.

18. In considering whether the adjustments that need to be made for an officer to perform a given role are 'reasonable', managers will need to consider the relevant role profile, drawn from the ICF. If officers are able to undertake a majority of the, or the main, activities for that role without adjustments, managers may conclude that the adjustments needed are reasonable. If officers are unable to undertake a majority of the, or the main, activities for that role without adjustments, managers may conclude that the adjustments needed are unreasonable. Managers will need to undertake risk assessments, having regard to the Commissioner’s duty of care and liability on health and safety grounds. Again, each case will need to be considered on its merits, and the Strategic Disability Team and OH will be able to assist managers in making what will be difficult decisions.

19. Any disabled officer who believes that he/she has been unfairly treated has a right to use the Fairness At Work Procedure.

Annex A: Matrix of the implementation of the employment provisions of the DDA in the MPS

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