Reports from Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board sub-groups

Report: 17
Date: 24 May 2007
By: Chief Executive

Summary

The purpose of this report is to provide members with an update on the work of the sub-groups to EODB, in particular the Stops and Searches Review Board, the Community Monitoring Network and the Domestic Violence Board. It also updates members on the work of the Race Hate Crime Forum.

A. Recommendations

That

1. Members note the report.

B. Supporting information

Stops and Searches Review Board

1. The MPA Stops and Searches Review (SSRB) began to formally sign-off the first set of recommendations from the MPA’s scrutiny of MPS stop and search practice on the 25 January and again on the 26 April 2007. The scrutiny report included 55 recommendations assigned to the MPS, the MPA and key stakeholders aimed at improving police stop and search. Of the 55, 32 were assigned to the MPS with the remaining 23 recommendations assigned to the MPA and key stakeholders. To date the MPS has proposed 16 recommendations for sign-off, of the 16 only 13 were agreed as completed.

2. Three recommendations were referred back to the MPS as incomplete and requiring more evidence due to concerns raised by Board members and community representatives. These recommendations (R) were:

• R17 - reversing low discretion stops searches (i.e. robust suspect profiles that are based on police intelligence and or information received from the public) to high discretion stops;
• R28 - the MPS Monitoring Mechanism data report that provides an analysis of stops and searches data; (update: see information for the next CMN meeting); and
• R53) the setting up of Monitoring Groups in all boroughs to monitor stops and searches. (To date 30 boroughs are monitoring stops and searches – the MPS Stops and Searches Team are actively progressing the remaining two boroughs in being compliant).

3. When the Board met on the 26 April 2007, the MPA proposed seven recommendations for sign-of [two on behalf of Department for Education and Skills (DfES)]. Of the seven six was agreed as successfully completed. R10 was referred and the DfES was asked to provide information with reference to the research on school exclusion and its impact on the stop and search of young people. An invitation will be extended to the DfES to present to the Board in October 2007.

4. The MPA will continue to sign-off recommendations during 2007 and hopes to complete the process in January 2008. It is envisaged that the Board’s work will come to an end in June 2008, after which outstanding work around recommendations will be assigned to other MPA Sub-Committees.

Stops and Searches borough visits

5. John Roberts, MPA Independent Member and chair of the SSRB conducted revisited Greenwich borough on the 3 May 2007 to meet with students at Woolwich Polytechnic School. This was to capture students’ views and experiences of stop and search.

6. The visit was successful and in recognition of the pupils support the chair will be liaising with the Greenwich stops and searches Lead Officer and the Deputy Headmaster (Woolwich Polytechnic) to organise a trip to Gravesend to view CO19 in training or a visit to the dog training unit at Keston.

MPA Stops and Searches Community Monitoring Network

7. The MPA Community Monitoring Network (CMN) Forum will next meet on the 20 June 2007. The focus item will be around understanding stop and search data. The MPA Planning and Performance Unit will be presenting to the Forum and will provide an information pack at the June meeting. All borough police officer stop and search leads and community representatives conducting work around stops and searches are encouraged to attend these meeting to raise concerns and share good practice around local monitoring.

MPA Domestic Violence Board

8. The MPA Domestic Violence Board is responsible for effective monitoring, scrutiny and support of the MPS in its response to domestic violence on behalf of Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board (EODB).

9. The Board has met three times and has to date looked at the response by four boroughs – Havering, Croydon, Tower Hamlets and Brent. The Board met most recently on 6 February 2007 when its focus was corporate concentrating on domestic violence-specific training and crime investigation policy.

10. The Board meets next on 12 June 2007 when Hammersmith and Fulham and Sutton will be invited to attend.

11. A review of the Board’s work during 2006-07 is scheduled to be considered at full Authority on 26 July 2007 where its Annual Report will be published reviewing work to date and making recommendations to government.

Race Hate Crime Forum

12. Reported race hate crime has fallen by 30.7%, from 1005 in 2005/06 to 696 in 2006/07. The sanction detection rate for race hate crime has increased from 12.6% to 19.5% over the same period.

13. Reported faith hate crime has fallen by 11.9%, from 11,322 in 2005/06 to 9,976 in 2006/07. The sanction detection rate for faith hate crime has increased from 26% to 36.9% over the same period.

14. Reported homophobic hate crime has fallen by 8.5%, from 1,294 in 2005/06 to 1,184 in 2006/07. The sanction detection rate for homophobic hate crime has increased from 21.6% to 34.6% over the same period.

15. Improvements have been made in relation to MPS flagging of hate crimes; CPS responses in dealing with hate crime charging and local authority use of civil powers, as have been the challenges made from the RHCF.

16. The RHCF was established in response to the recommendations of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report recommendations 15 -17. Its aims are to:

• Help reduce and prevent race hate crime, improve the confidence and satisfaction of victims in reporting crime, and to promote consistency of service across London
• Improve the co-ordination between the key agencies responsible for supporting victims of race hate crime and the effectiveness of with which perpetrators of race hate crime are brought to justice.

17. An independent review [1] of the impact of the RHCF across London was conducted in partnership with the London Probation Service in 2006, which highlights the benefits of the RHCF and the impact it has on London scrutiny. The report also highlights what further methods of engagement is requested from boroughs post the initial scrutiny presentations. The achievements of the RHCF are contained in the Annual Reports and will be presented at the next EODB.

18. Over the past three year, the RHCF has been jointly funded by the MPA and GOL. GOL funding has now ceased and no further avenues for funding have yet been secured, despite best efforts. Therefore, the work and future of the RHCF is currently uncertain.

C. Race and equality impact

1. The MPA’s work in relation to stop and search and domestic violence contributes to the organisation’s legislative duties to eliminate discrimination, promote equality of opportunity and to promote good relations between people of different racial groups and genders.

2. The issue of unexplained disproportionality on the basis of ethnicity, age and gender continues to characterise work on stops and searches. The Authority is seeking to support and challenge the MPS to improve its use of the practice together with communities in order to build public confidence in relation to its use.

3. Domestic violence constitutes a quarter of all violent crime and disproportionately affects women. While MPS performance, specifically in terms of sanction detections, is higher than it has been before, the MPA Domestic Violence Board supports and challenges the organisation at both borough and corporate support levels to continuously improve its response in relation to safety, victim care, risk assessment and management, and contributing to successful criminal justice outcomes.

4. The RHCF has demonstrated through its process, the impact on MPS and local authority responses to hate crime, which in turn has supported the MPA in delivering its substantial agenda in terms of improving policing to Londoners. The run up to the 2012 Olympics will be a testing time for London as well as the challenges of changing communities.

5. Research conducted from MPS data on victims and accused of hate crime, indicates that the age range where the majority of both victims and accused in relation to race, faith and homophobic hate crime, is the 18-29.

D. Financial implications

1. Resources to service all sub-groups to EODB are met from the MPA’s Equality and Diversity Unit budget. However, there needs to be an urgent review as to how these activities will be serviced in 2007 – 2008 as a result of resource allocations.

2. The MPA has given a commitment to support the RHCF until the end of 2007. There is a need for the MPA to look at strategies to support the RHCF into the future.

E. Background papers

None.

F. Contact details

Report author: Cynthia Coleman and Hamida Ali, MPA, with contributions from Bennett Obong, MPA.

For more information contact:

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

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