MPA generic equality scheme 2006-2010

Report: 12
Date: 3 April 2008
By: the Chief Executive

Summary

This report presents to Members an overview of the MPA (Metropolitan Police Authority) Generic Equality Scheme (GNES) 2006 – 2010.

A. Recommendations

That Members request an update on progress on the MPA's Generic Equality Scheme in 2009.

B. Supporting information

1. The success of the race legislation and the more recent introduction of disability and gender legislation has led to a wider recognition that people cannot be defined purely by a particular grouping or community, and by developing a generic equality scheme (GNES), this will enable the MPA to review our services whilst recognising the complexity of the community we serve.

2. Other developments have also prompted the move towards a MPA generic equality scheme. This includes the setting up of the single equality commission. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is a statutory body whose remit is to create a fair, more inclusive and prosperous Britain. The EHRC has an agenda that promotes inclusiveness for all society as well as tackling barriers to social and economic participation for the six-equality strands (age, disability, race, religion and belief/non belief, gender, sexual orientation).

3. It is important to understand the difference between an equality scheme and an equality action plan. An equality scheme will usually address how we will safeguard and promote employment rights as well as in some instances address service delivery issues. It is a concise narrative of what the public body will do and is doing to meet legislative duties. The equality action plan addresses exactly how the organisation will do this in specific time frames. Some public bodies publish their action plan and the scheme within the same document, whilst others prefer to keep the scheme and the action plan quite separate.

4. The Equality and Diversity Unit (EDU) recommends that whilst the generic scheme will replace the need to have individual Disability, Gender and Race Equality scheme, the GNES will still have distinct equality strand action plans. These action plans will still be regularly reviewed and we will develop further action plans for the other three equality strands.

5. The GNES will allow us to pull together the equality strands, so that we are able to consider all of the equality strands in a holistic manner. The GNES will also highlight our legal responsibilities not only for disability, gender and race, but will also enable us to review other areas of inequality or discrimination.

6. The GNES will also go some way to adopting the more structured approach in equality and diversity in the MPA. Through bringing together the equality strands in one scheme, we will achieve our overarching commitments to be inclusive, transparent and allow accessibility to monitor outcomes. The GNES will enable the MPA to be more proactive in reviewing and monitoring our scheme, and will highlight MPA best practice in producing such a scheme.

7. A GNES working group was convened in January 2006, and this group started the process of drawing up the content and discussing the consultation mediums for the scheme. The group consisted of individuals from across all units within the MPA as well as external stakeholders. This was so that all staff took responsibility for drawing up our GNES. The focus of that work included the drafting of the MPA Disability and Gender schemes. A decision was taken by the working group to focus on these areas first due to the legislative deadlines that the schemes had to be developed by. The working group assisted in executing this work.

8. Since the publication of the MPA Disability Scheme the working group were not brought together again because the configuration of the MPA changed due to the improvement programme . Resourcing issues within the EDU also meant that the MPA had to push back the timescales for drafting the GNES i.e. pulling all six equality strands into one document. However the EDU have recently been granted permission to recruit two permanent Policy Development Officers and a Unit Administrator, two of these posts were existing vacancies within the unit. This extra resource means that the team will now have a greater capacity to deliver the MPA GNES by the summer of 2008.

9. The MPA’s GNES will be a comprehensive equality document that will:

• incorporate our corporate equality statement and categories for all 6 equality strands (the Age strand of the scheme will be led by the MPA HR unit);
• is one scheme but containing distinct action plans. The document will also contain common ground chapters that highlight significant overlaps between the equality strands;
• promote equality of opportunity, in service delivery, employment practice and in its scrutiny role to the MPS;
• provide details of the MPA’s policy in regards to equality strands that do not yet have a legislative duty to have an action plan/scheme; and
• provide details of the MPA monitoring and scrutiny process to ensure equality of opportunity for staff and in its service delivery.

Progress on the MPA Equality Schemes

Disability

10. On the 6 December 2006 the MPA published our first Disability Equality Scheme (DES). The DES highlights how the MPA will continue to tackle discrimination, promote equality of opportunity and promote good relations between all people in the areas of service provision and employment. The last 12 months has been a busy time for the MPA; the organisation has recently undergone, as part of its improvement programme, an internal restructuring process. This process was carried out so that the way in which the MPA conducts its business of scrutinising, overseeing and holding the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to account is far more rigorous and efficient. The MPA chose to conjoin the internal restructuring exercise with the development of the GNES, so that whilst all staff considered new ways of working in our business plans, policy making and everyday business we also considered the needs of and involved disabled people at the same time.

11. Although the MPA welcomed the new legislation Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 2005 our journey like many other public bodies has not been a totally smooth road. Transforming the way in which our organisation delivers its services as well as adapting to the new legislation has enabled the MPA to improve significantly in terms of the way in which we engage with Deaf and disabled people but we still face challenges. The MPA acknowledges the importance of this work because Disabled Londoners comprise 16 per cent of London’s working age population, around 800,000 people . Disabled people are defined here as those who have a current long-term disability according to the DDA definition of disability.

12. Through our user involvement events and public consultation nine overarching themes emerged. These themes defined the priority areas that we have worked on over the last 12 months, they include:

• Challenging hate crime
• Developing ways of monitoring performance
• Developing access initiatives
• Review and improve our communication strategies
• Review our human resources policies
• Respecting Deaf and disabled peoples experiences
• Disability Equality training
• Ensuring that Deaf and disabled peoples views are represented
• To continue to develop involvement strategies
• Challenging hate crime

13. The current remit of the MPA Race Hate Crime Forum (LRHCF ) focuses on race and faith hate crime and excludes work around disability. In exploring this area of diversity, the MPA Equality and Diversity Unit (EDU) has consulted and held discussions with Deaf and disabled community members to explore how disability hate crime issues can best be addressed through the work of the Forum. The RHCF is also being reviewed as part of the MPA Improvement Programme and whilst the immediate position of the Forum is unclear (MPA members will need to make a decision), If it continues, an option is that it would include disability hate crime as an additional focus area by making appropriate links with Deaf and disabled people, disability advisory groups and organisations who can act as advisors in this area. The 2001 Census recorded the population of London as 7.4 million people. With regard to being a victim of all crime, the general rate of victimisation is 78.6 per 1000 population. For victims with a disability this rate is 19.6 per 1000 population. For particular crime types the comparisons are illustrated as the following:

• burglary, disabled, 2 per thousand, other 8 per thousand;
• criminal damage, disabled, 1.4 per thousand, other 10.2 per 1000;
• theft, disabled 4.1 per thousand, other 34.9 per 1000;
• violence against the person, disabled 2.9 per thousand, other 17.1 per 1000.

14. We know that different types of disability suffer a higher proportion of certain types of criminal activity than others. For instance, victims with a physical disability are more likely to be the victims of higher rates of property type offences such as burglary at 5%, criminal damage at 60% and theft at 44% as a percentage of all victims with a disability. Whereas victims with a psychiatric or psychological disability were more likely to be victims of physical abuse, such as sexual offences 59%, robbery and violence both 26% of all disabled victims. When each category of disability is viewed on its own, theft is the major category for both physical and communication types of disability followed by burglary for those with a physical disability and violence for those with a communication disability. Victims with a psychiatric disability are much more likely to face a crime of violence up to 44%.

15. Crimes against victims of disability are not solved to the same extent as other crimes. The overall detection rate for victims with no disability is 11% as opposed to 7% for victims with a disability. The biggest difference in terms of crimes in the general population and crimes against those with a disability is noted against ‘violence against the person’ with a 10% lower detection rate followed by sexual offences with a 6% lower detection rate if the victim has a disability. This decrease in detection rate is reflected across all types of disability but victims with a psychiatric or psychological disability have a 10% chance of having their crime detected followed by those with a communication disability at 9% and those with a physical disability at 7%.

16. The MPA RHCF recognises the impact of disability hate crime and will engage with organisations established to address issues of hate crime against those with a disability .

Developing ways of monitoring performance

17. The MPA Planning and Performance Unit (PPU) commissioned a paper investigating disability and the recording of crime. The paper looked at crime recorded between April and November 2006 compared to April and November 2005.

18. The codes for recording disability became available in April 2005 and as is always experienced with new codes, compliance in recording was slow in starting. Thus in April to November 2005 victims with disability made up 1% of the victimised, compared with April to November 2006 where victims with a disability were 3% of the total.

19. More recent information has been requested for the MPA Equal Opportunities Diversity Board (EODB) committee in November 2007. This showed that the number of disabled victims has remained fairly static at 21,300 for a 12-month period. Theft is the most common crime committed against both disabled and non-disabled victims.

20. The PPU has been involved in re-designing the questionnaire for the public consultation process to determine the policing priorities for 2009-10. To ensure that the process takes into account of concerns affecting different communities in London the PPU has ensured that the questionnaire includes a full diversity section, including sections for all 6 equality strands. This will not only enable the MPA and MPS to monitor who is completing the questionnaire but will enable analysis to be conducted on the results detailing specific areas of concern for particular groups of people. The Planning and Performance Unit has also assisted in designing a questionnaire to be used in the youth crime scrutiny . The demographic section of the questionnaire will include details of disability as well as the other five equality strands. Although completion of this information is voluntary, it may give a better understanding of the issues affecting disabled young people.

Developing access initiatives

21. The term ‘access’ can relate to physical and easy access into and around our buildings and public spaces. There are many factors contributing to physical accessibility, the most obvious being the building shell. However, it is also important to consider fixtures and fittings, furniture and equipment. It is also vital to consider how a building is used. How a building is managed in its day-to-day operation will have a significant impact on how easy the building is to use by disabled people. Awareness and attitudes of staff and helpers are critical for the safe and convenient use of the building. For these reasons, the MPA disability access audit also took into consideration the role of management, staffing and staff training as well as physical aspect. It is important to note that the MPA are tenants in the building we occupy and are resident on the ground, first, second and part of the third floor.

22. Access can also relate to the potential environmental barriers that disabled people may face in regards to meetings, policies, processes or systems in the work that the MPA do. The MPA is committed to working in partnership with disabled people to achieve a barrier-free environment. As part of this commitment we commissioned the Centre for Accessible Environments (CAE) to carry out an access audit on our building (10 Dean Farrar Street). The access audit was completed in November 2007.

23. The key findings of the access audit report included:

• that there is no suitable, level parking space near the entrance to the building for visitors. The question of providing lift access from car park to ground floor level was explored; it was recommended that the provision of an accessible visitor car parking space inside the basement car park be investigated. This would provide a more accessible route from parking to building for visitors;
• due to security issues the access to all MPA floors is via swipe card and push button security system. Both swipe and combination codes are required for entry. This may be difficult for some people, particularly those with visual or manual dexterity difficulties. It was recommended that, practicable, a simple entry system be provided. It was recommended that consideration is given to a simple proximity or swipe card access for ease of use by people with limited manual dexterity and vision;
• many MPA committee meetings/events rely on the use of the ground floor meeting rooms. However only one meeting room out of four is fully accessible for wheelchair users and others unable to use steps. As the principal areas that are accessed by members of the public, it was recommended that level or ramped access is provided to as many rooms as possible; and
• accessible WCs – the report acknowledged that the situation with the toilets fall within the landlord’s remit of responsibilities. That being said there a number of recommendations were still made. The principle issue noted is that the accessible WC compartments do not meet current good practice guidance. The compartments sizes are considerably less than recommended for accessible cubicles and grab rails are not suitably arranged. It was recommended that the WC be redesigned to give additional space in compartments with consideration given to removing the internal partitions, using entire space to create two unisex accessible toilets.

24. These issues are all currently under review and at the time of writing this report the MPA have met DDA requirements including:

• conducting a DDA Audit;
• providing turning circles, signage, floor/ wall and ceiling contrasts;
• providing unobstructed access/egress, colour differentiation and contrasts, vision panels and handles/knobs;
•  Induction loop facilities have been installed in all public meeting rooms since 2002 and updated in 2006. Strobe alarms were also fitted to assist in the fire evacuation procedure. They are also now installed in meeting rooms and on office floors.

25. In regards to all public committee meetings, the MPA Committee Liaison and Members Services (CLAMS) are responsible for ensuring that any ‘access’ requests for assistance is met promptly for instance by having identified in advance sources of assistance, such as alternative formats for reports, or communication support such as BSL Signers, Palantypists etc. This remains one of the objectives for the unit in 2007/08.

26. In 2007 a new national Model Code was produced by the Association of Police Authorities (APA), which the MPA has adopted in full. Through ongoing guidance to members on the Code we will look to ensure that they are made aware of their DDA obligations. A new development for this year and one that ties in with level two of the Equality Standard is that each committee now has an equalities objective (include disability) in its terms of reference. This objective will now be included in each committees work plan.

27. The MPA are committed to playing their part in ensuring that Deaf and disabled people are able to successfully compete for a diverse range of contracts. In terms of procurement within the GLA Family Group, Sustainable Procurement has been relabelled as Responsible Procurement. The MPA Treasury Unit are members of the steering and working groups, who aid the development of the ‘Responsible Procurement Annual Report’. The next report is due to be published in early 2008 highlighting the good practice achieved by the GLA Group – e.g. the level of expenditure with diverse suppliers used. There is now a database for use by the GLA Group holding information on small and medium enterprises that can be approached to tender for work with the group. An objective (for the Treasury Unit) for the future is to make the procurement process easier to access by diverse suppliers, including those owned/ managed by people with disabilities.

Review and improve our communication strategies

8. At recent events that the MPA has hosted informal meetings with community members, it is clear that the MPA need to do more work around raising the organisations profile within the wider Deaf and disabled communities. There is often confusion between the distinct roles that the MPA and MPS hold. Therefore one of our actions within the MPA DES (under the Communication Unit) was to develop a greater understanding of the MPA’s role among Deaf and disabled people and disability groups, and for the MPA to increase the use of our information by specialist disability media. An example of how we have pushed this agenda includes doubling the number of languages on our website from 8 to 16 . We also provided specialist translations of the MPA’s counter-terrorism report . The report summary was provided in Easy Read and BSL.

29. In terms of our online communication the MPA is committed to actively promoting our website to Deaf and disabled people and to work with Deaf and disabled people to ensure its accessibility is maintained and enhanced. We have received positive feedback of our efforts to enhance accessibility from other organisations and the media.

Review our human resources Policies/ Disability Equality training

30. As part of the MPA Improvement Programme the internal HR function priorities are currently being reviewed and will include implementation of the MPA Improvement Programme insofar as it relates to staffing. The MPA is a small organisation with small HR budgets (e.g. training) and HR staff numbers have been reduced recently to reflect a revised role. As a result the ability of the Authority for generic training for all staff or major positive action initiatives is limited, although, for example in 2004 staff received disability awareness training from ‘Disability Matters’ and other providers.

31. Other priorities include:

• more training for managers, e.g. in terms of HR policies and policy implementation; for staff in terms of their responsibilities, e.g. the six equality strands;
• regular management information for SMT across a range of HR activities, e.g. sickness/return to work interviews, appraisals, induction/probation etc;
• more quick time reviews of policies, guidance and practice in preparation for changes in equalities legislation.
• There are also one-to-one and online training options for managers and generic training programmes being developed, including a comprehensive induction programme and specific ‘management’ and ‘management of HR’ courses for middle managers and revisions to the staff handbook to make it more accessible to all staff.
• The Authority is still working towards being accredited with the ‘two ticks scheme’ that involves making five commitments to the community although the Authority already guarantees to interview all Deaf and disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for a job vacancy and consider them on their abilities; and
• As part of the MPA response to the GLA’s Best Value Review “Equalities for All”, we have signed up to the exemplary employer template and the social model of disability. The MPA is working towards developing and maintaining a suite of HR policies, procedures and working practices that promotes a positive working environment for Deaf and disabled staff.

32. In 2007 we had two significant developments in terms of the HR review (which is being carried out as part of the MPA Improvement Programme), which included the commissioning and publication of the staff survey, and carrying out the Authority’s Equal Pay Audit:

• Staff Survey – In the autumn of 2007 the results of the staff survey were published. An element of the staff survey explored issues of disability in the workplace as well as getting a better understanding of the numbers of Deaf and disabled staff that are working within the MPA. We sought feedback on how accessibility issues are currently managed or dealt with in the workplace. The results of the survey are being considered in the current review of the HR policies. A follow up staff survey will be commissioned A follow-up staff survey will be commissioned 12 –18 months time in order to measure impact and improvement across a range of internal issues, including disability. The outcome of this further staff survey will help shape MPA HR strategies, policies, procedures and working practices and take account of feedback from disabled staff; and
• Equal Pay Audit - during the course of the year the HR unit in conjunction with the Public Commercial Services Union (PCS) undertook a wide-ranging equal pay audit of the pay system by the end of the 2006 / 2007 financial year. It built on the work undertaken in 2004 and looked at potential discrimination on the grounds of disability. The outcome of the equal pay audit has provided the MPA with a benchmark for improvement in the area of pay for all staff.

33. The external HR function priorities are also being reviewed in consultation with members and MPA/MPS officers. It will include workforce modernisation (a national programme to create a more flexible workforce and to professionalise policing), the HR implications of the restructuring of the MPS (including a shared service or call centre for HR) and reform of police. In order to progress this work the MPA have set up a member-led HR Oversight Group that meets every month and is intended to enhance the Authority’s ability to scrutinise HR activities across the MPS and police service through knowledge building. At each meeting there is a focus item on a particular area of HR business, e.g. Selection or Leadership, in addition to standing items on, for example, HR workforce data and progress towards meeting targets for under-represented groups and matters raised by staff associations and staff support associations, including the MPS Disabled Staff Association.

34. In addition, the MPA has initiated a member-led scrutiny in succession planning and talent management in the police service. This has some wide ranging terms of reference which include assessing the extent to which appropriate structures are in place, and resources available, to identify, select and support succession planning and talent management for police officers in the MPS and the police service and to understand what is being done to address under representation of all equality groups at senior levels. To this end, a questionnaire has been sent to all staff associations and all staff support associations seeking both their views and personal experiences.

35. The response of the Metropolitan Police Disabled Staff Association emphasised the importance of any positive action initiatives focusing on skills development and encouraging under represented groups to take part in selection processes, removing barriers and supporting work-life balance.

36. The responses to these questionnaires, in addition to oral evidence received from individuals, will be analysed in order to support any recommendations but broadly supported a move towards looking at the experience of all equality groups and addressing them. One of the other issues the scrutiny has identified is the lack of reliable information on disability, faith or belief and sexual orientation, which will need to be addressed. The scrutiny was finalised in February 2008 and a report went to the MPA Co-ordination of Policing Committee on 7 February 2008.

Ensuring that Deaf and disabled peoples views are represented/ Respecting Deaf and disabled peoples experiences

37. The events of July 2005 gave considerable concern to all Londoners and were of particular concern to Deaf and disabled people as to how their needs would be met in the event of an emergency in London. Anecdotal evidence provided to the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA), the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and Transport for London (TfL) by individuals, community groups and the MPS Disability Independent Advisory Group (DIAG) indicated that though London may have been prepared for such emergencies, the needs of Deaf and disabled people had not been properly considered.

38. This raised grave concern within the MPA EDU because in 2003 the MPA and MPS acknowledged that that there was an urgent need for a Disability Agenda within the MPA as it was clear that disability and policing issues were not largely known/understood. In order to address this a small Steering Group made up of the key partners in ‘London Resilience’ (the key agencies responsible for responding to an emergency in the capital), together with representatives from DIAG agreed to host a seminar on emergency planning.

39. The London Emergency Planning Seminar (March 2006) provided an opportunity for Deaf and disabled people to speak directly to the key decision-makers responsible for emergency planning in London. It was also an opportunity for those agencies responsible for emergency planning to explain to deaf and disabled people what work they had done to date to make London safer for all of the capital’s diverse communities.

40. Over 150 delegates attended this event. The Seminar was chaired and facilitated by Alice Maynard (Director of Future Inclusion). Keynote speakers included David Morris (Senior Policy Adviser to the Mayor of London [Disability], GLA); Bryan Heiser (TfL member); and Kirsten Hearn (MPA Independent Member). An external facilitator, Pip Hesketh acted as Project Manager for this event. On the day, a number of key issues emerged as learning and developmental issues for the emergency planning partners:

• the use of language: often officers from the emergency planning agencies used jargon, acronyms and inaccessible language to communicate their activities and responses to questions posed. This impacted directly on some delegates’ enjoyment and accessibility of the Seminar.
• the need for officers working in the emergency planning agencies to have a disability equality training
• some delegates wanted more deaf and disabled people to attend; however, this was a balancing act between the capacity to meet a variety of impairments, health and safety considerations and allowing delegates to work in smaller workshops to learn more about emergency planning.
• the steering group produced a list of the key recommendations emerging from the Seminar, which we and other agencies are working towards fulfilling.

Reference: MPA Equal Opportunities Diversity Board (EODB) paper: London Emergency Planning Seminar, September 2006.

41. In terms of some of the ongoing Community Engagement work the MPA has a role to work together with a range of organisations, groups and individuals in order to keep London safe. To do this it is necessary to build trust and confidence between police and the communities they serve. Of course we can only do this if we fully understand the concerns of every section of our society. The MPA have engaged with Londoners in a variety of different ways including a Counter Terrorism Debate: The London Debate.

42. The MPA engaged with over 1000 London residents and workers in Counter Terrorism: The London Debate. The process included;

• 6 pan-London hearings with specifically selected sections of London society;
• 35 local consultations in London Boroughs;
• 6 focus groups with students in London universities;
• A written report, with recommendations.

43. Representatives of disability groups attended our ‘Together Against Terror?’ conference in December 2005, which gave rise to this programme. Disabled people participated in the various consultative activities, which constituted the programme of work. Disabled people from the Association of Blind Asians and the Association of Muslims with Disabilities attended. Deaf and disabled individuals were involved as an expert witness and as journalists who contributed.

44. The MPA are cognisant of some of the particular considerations of disabled people regarding terrorism and counter-terrorism, including, for example, the need for communication in a variety of modes in a crisis situation, concerns that police officers should not only use audio cues when giving instructions to terrorist suspects, the need for an appreciation of why people with a variety of disabilities may be incorrectly construed by the public or police as acting suspiciously, or issues regarding the treatment of guide dogs in emergency scenarios.

45. The key messages that arose from this debate included; there is support across all of the communities, for the police’s counter terrorist effort. The MPA following this inquiry produced and distributed the 'Counter-Terrorism: The London Debate' report in a range or accessible formats including British Sign Language (BSL) DVD, Easy Read and audiocassette.

Reference: Counter Terrorism Debate: The London Debate, March 2006/(internal) MPA planning submission, Andrew Hull, October 2006

46. The MPA has a duty to monitor the performance of the MPS and secure continuous improvement in the services provided to the people of London. To help it carry out these responsibilities the Authority undertakes in-depth projects, or Scrutinies, into specific aspects of MPS performance. Members of the police authority, supported by the Scrutiny and Review Team, undertake these Scrutinies. We use a number of criteria to identify areas of service delivery that would benefit from more in-depth scrutiny.

47. These include performance (particularly poor performance) resources, and implications for equality and diversity (e.g. disproportionality). At the start of any scrutiny or review, an assessment is carried out to identify which equality groups may be impacted (either positively or negatively). Appropriate arrangements are undertaken to ensure that this risk is minimised and potential positive impacts are maximised. Disability issues are addressed as part of the process on a case-by-case basis.

To continue to develop involvement strategies

48. The Equality and Diversity Unit (EDU) is responsible for supporting the work of the EODB and ensuring the MPA equal opportunities and diversity strategic objectives are achieved. These objectives were set from 2004-2007. An update paper on progress against these objectives was received by EODB In December 2007. These objectives are an important step to enable the MPA and its staff to mainstream equality and diversity, ultimately enabling the MPA to effectively monitor and scrutinise the work of the MPS, from public engagement with community representatives to supporting the work of members and staff. The EDU has responsibility for supporting the MPA Domestic Violence Board, which was set up to monitor, scrutinise and support the MPS in its performance and response to domestic violence. The EDU is also responsible for providing secretariat support for the London Race Hate Crime Forum (LRHCF). Over the last twelve months the Unit undertaken work around supporting the organisation to develop and progress its DES as well has our other Equalities Schemes. In particular the EDU have moved forward with work on the Equality Standard for Local Government (ESfLG ) and the MPA Domestic Violence Board.

49. The progress of work for these two strands have included:

• amending the MPA’ s Equal Opportunities Policy to reflect recent legislative changes in relation to disability, gender and age;
• signing off 12 Equality Impact Assessments (EqIAs) over the past year;
• getting committees to set equality objectives;
• commissioning briefs that consistently request of BOCUs performance information on disability ;(as well as across other equality strands);
• having the chair of EODB as a member of the DV Board
• detailed briefings and summaries to Board members; and
• Inviting disability equality experts from London’s diverse communities to contribute on a regular basis to the DVB.

50. The MPA is currently working towards securing level 3 of the Standard. As mentioned earlier an Equal Pay Audit has been undertaken and in November 2007, and a Disability Access Audit of Dean Farrar Street was carried out, making a number of recommendations for consideration by SMT. It should be noted that when, following an emergency, the MPA had to vacate Dean Farrar Street in the summer of 2007, a number of steps were taken on return to the building to ensure access issues were dealt with as fully as possible. This was done in close liaison with the two chairs of the MPS Disability Independent Advisory Group. A report on MPA’s progress in relation to the Standard will be submitted to EODB in February 2008 .

51. The new EPU Unit continues to facilitate some key functions of the former Community Engagement Unit and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership Unit. Therefore one of the ways in which the public can continue to raise concerns about local problems and help improve the quality of local services is through the borough based Community Engagement Groups – the collective term used for these groups is Community Police Consultative Groups (CPCGs) and Community Safety Boards (CSBs).

52. These independent voluntary groups provide a mechanism for holding borough police and CDRPs to account and are a means of reporting back to local people. Examples of the impact that these groups have made with the support of the MPA include:

53. Brent, Hammersmith and Fulham and Islington Community Safety Boards have now been established with the MPA actively ensuring recruitment from the Deaf and disabled communities.

54. The MPA led a survey carried out with members of Hammersmith and Fulham Action on Disability (HAFAD) to identify crime and disorder issues for the Deaf and disabled community. This survey was used locally to influence the Crime and Disorder strategy and priorities. As a direct result of the Director of HAFAD being actively involved in the Community Engagement Group (CEG) the Director was able to develop contacts with the Borough Commander. This relationship resulted in the Borough Commander asking the CEG for their support in helping the Management Team in the Borough develop its action plan for addressing the needs of Deaf and disabled people.

55. One borough found a solution to discourage thefts of the Blue Badge used in the Blue Badge Scheme . The EPU has circulated good practice to CDRPs and is encouraging them to involve local disability groups so that disabled people do not become targeted victims of car crime, do not lose the Blue Badge facility and their mobility, and do not lose other incidental property in the course of the theft of the badge.

56. In addition to the activities outlined above, the EPU regularly undertakes ad hoc consultation activities. These additional activities are driven and shaped by legislative requirements/current policing priorities. The Authority recognises the potential Londoners themselves have to contribute to the safety and security of the capital. The MPA wants to enable London’s communities to communicate their views and concerns on these critical issues, which we believe will lead to better informed police decision making and greater public understanding of the complexities involved.

57. Deaf and disabled people have participated in the various consultative activities, which constitute part of the EPU programme of work. The EPU team works to fulfil the MPA’s statutory role under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 on the 32 CDRPs across London. It is important to note that although the team does not deliver any service or develop any policies directly it advises and supports MPA link members to promote partnership working to reduce crime and disorder.

58. Since the MPA User Involvement events during the summer of 2006, the new EPU team have met and discussed the findings of the user involvement events and the associated community feedback. This has initiated discussion across the team about key areas of the EPU work, and where and how the team shall endeavour to heighten awareness across the CDRP partnership of disability issues. The team have developed actions associated with the community feedback and are incorporating these action into their work plan.

Challenges
59. The MPA has a couple of key challenges over the next 12 months, primarily because the organisations is still adapting to new ways of working and is still embedding new policies and procedures that were born out of the MPA improvement programme. A work stream of the new EPU unit is the Independent Custody Visiting Scheme (ICV). This enables members of the public to visit police stations unannounced to ensure that those held in police custody are being properly treated. There are approximately 400 custody visitors based in 32 London boroughs. Increasing diversity is an issue for the scheme and measures are to be taken to increase the diversity of custody visitors. It should be noted that, though this area of work is not community engagement as such, it enables Londoners to become actively involved in a statutory responsibility of the MPA’s work and fulfils one of the Authority’s key objectives to strengthen the skills and capacity of Londoners so that they can effectively engage in the policing of London. Work is well under way to address concerns around diversity. For example:

· Visual prompt cards have been issued to all ICV panels for use during custody visits;
· Recruitment and marketing materials have been developed and regular recruitment campaigns have been run in the press; and
· A wide range of community groups have been mailed information about the scheme, however groups representing people with disabilities have not been separately targeted.

60. The MPA need to undertake more work in order to analysis the make up of the scheme across the six equality strands. We are looking in to purchasing a personnel management system to manage our volunteer records and we would envisage being able to capture this information through that. This will be a key piece of work for the ICV unit over the next two years.

61. Additionally, the ICV unit have developed a suite of policies for the scheme, which have all been equality impact assessed. Recruitment guidance and an interview framework have also been developed. These policies and processes have been Equality Impact Assessed .

62. As part of the work in the former Community Engagement Unit the MPA had a pan-London community engagement mechanism - the Safer London Panel. The panel comprised of 3,000 London residents who were regularly asked by the MPA to give their views on a wide range of crime, community safety and policing issues. At the time of publishing the MPA DES statistics showed that 12% of panel members were disabled people and a further 8% have a disabled household member. As a comparison, data supplied by the GLA stated that 20% Londoners identify as disabled.

63. In January 2007 it was decided that the Safer London Panel would no longer be funded by the MPA. This decision was based on the concern that the Panel was not value for money. The Panel ceased to exist in March 2007. Between January and March 2007 no further Panel activities were undertaken. The new EPU are considering what new pan London community engagement mechanism could be put in place or how the existing EPU mechanisms in the communities could be utilised to support this function.

Gender
64. The MPA GES has been developed in accordance with the Equality Act 2006. The Equality Act 2006 amends the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 to place a statutory duty on public authorities when carrying out their functions. It encompasses the new Gender Equality Duty, which required the MPA to publish a GES by 30 April 2007. This new duty requires public authorities such as the MPA to promote gender equality and eliminate sex discrimination. The duty places a legal responsibility on the Authority to demonstrate that we treat men and women fairly in our policymaking, public services, and in our employment practices.

65. Our GES sets out the framework the MPA will use to tackle gender equality issues. Our work to promote gender equality and eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment will reflect an understanding that women and men can experience disadvantage and discrimination because of their age, disability, ethnicity, religion or belief, or sexual orientation; and we are committed to ensuring that the rights of transgender people under the Gender Recognition Act 2005 are recognised.

66. We are aware that women and men experience different types of disadvantage in society, often determined by the roles they play at work, at home and in the community and the relationships they establish. Their lives can also be affected by stereotyping about the roles they should play and the needs they have as employees and service users. This can be compounded by organisational cultures and working and service delivery practices that mitigate against the promotion of equality of opportunity and lead to unlawful discrimination and harassment.

67. We are also aware of the persistent pay gap between women and men, the barriers faced by many as a result of caring and domestic responsibilities and the sexual harassment, domestic violence and social and economic disadvantage experienced by many women. We believe that young people – girls and boys – have much to contribute to their communities, yet often face negative attitudes, stereotyping and resistance to greater participation and involvement. We know that women live longer and often face poverty in their older years as well as anxieties about safety in their communities and at home.

68. Our work to promote gender equality and eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment will reflect an understanding that women and men can experience disadvantage and discrimination because of their age, disability, ethnicity, religion or belief, or sexual orientation; and we are committed to ensuring that the rights of transgender people under the Gender Recognition Act 2004 are recognised.

69. We have made progress toward the achievement of gender equality in service delivery and employment in the MPA, but there is much still to do to challenge discrimination and harassment and promote equality. The gender objectives we have identified in this Scheme and the Action Plan will build on this work as we seek further to improve our services and employment practices, promote gender equality, combat sex discrimination and harassment and engage effectively with women and men and girls and boys across London.


70. The MPA Improvement Programme continues to be one of the major areas of business activity during 2008. It is vital that this work, together with the work on the Equality Standard for Local Government (ESLG), consistently provides evidence of the MPA meeting its general and specific legislative duties. The restructuring of the organisation as impacted on the implementation of all of the equality scheme action plans. Therefore as mentioned earlier where teams such as the former Community Engagement Team have merged with the former Crime and Disorder Partnership Team, the reviews of all of their policies through the Equality Impact Assessment and team consultations etc have included all six equality strands.

71. We have made progress toward the achievement of gender equality in service delivery and employment in the MPA, but there is much still to do to challenge discrimination and harassment and promote equality. In our role of scrutinising, overseeing and holding the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to account, this document will be one of the key standards by which we operate so that we achieve for women, men, girls and boys a confidence in the MPS and a good experience of policing, to meet their needs and aspirations.

72. In the MPA Gender Equality Scheme we set several gender quality objectives. These objectives have culminated from several sources. This includes: our former Corporate Equality Plan, our most recent internal and external user involvement/ consultation events (held during the summer of 2006) and our ‘Counter Terrorism - The London debate’. In particular the MPA held a session for women and also our EIAs, which have all provided us with a wealth of information in terms of areas for improvement. The key issues taken from these consultations have been prioritised in the gender equality scheme three-year action plan. As with the DES and RES action plans our high priority actions will take place in year one of the action plan, medium priority actions in year two and low priority actions in year three.

73. The MPA have identified several high-level gender equality objectives to promote gender equality. These objectives are primarily split between two areas, i.e. the service that the MPA provides and how the MPA functions as an employer:

Service delivery
· to reach level 3 of the Equality Standard for Local Government by December 2007;
· to make our services more accessible, in regards to women and men being able to obtain information and being able to participate in decision-making processes;
· to promote gender equality and diversity within the police service; and
· to listen and engage with women and men and girls and boys so that we effectively inform the policing priorities, and the way in which London is policed.

As an employer
· to undertake an Equal Pay Audit by April 2007;
· to ensure that all MPA staff members have at least one equality and diversity objective by September 2008;
· to ensure that all MPA business units have an equality and diversity objective that is directly linked to their business objectives; and
· that all MPA committees set at least one equality and diversity target and/or objective.

· The MPA have made progress toward the achievement of gender equality in service delivery and employment in the MPA, but there is much still to do to challenge discrimination and harassment and promote equality so that we achieve for women, men, girls and boys.

· During the course of developing the GES as well as gathering our evidence for the ESLG, we discovered that the MPA have much to celebrate in terms of promoting equality of opportunity for women, men, girls and boys. The following are examples of work that has taken place in the MPA around the GES.

· The Counter Terrorism – the London Debate Public hearings included a dialogue with groups who had experienced a disproportionate impact since the terrorist attacks on the 7 July 2005 and the failed attempt on the 21 July 2005 (representatives from the business/tourist companies/organisations); and secondly, those who have historically have little opportunity to get involved in policing policy but who are more likely to be disproportionally impacted on by counter-terrorism policing policy for example young people, Asian men and women;

· Research (by the PPU) into the diversity of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) compared to police officer recruits. This research found that female PCSOs were less likely than their male counterparts to state that they were using the role as a stepping-stone to becoming a police officer. One female respondent stated that childcare responsibilities prevented her attending the 18-week residential police officer training course – a reason, she stated, that prevented a lot of females on her PCSO training course applying to be a police officer. In addition, female PCSOs were more likely than males to cite the importance of work-life balance as a reason for not wanting to become a police officer The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) included findings from the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) research into Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) recruitment in their paper to the EODB on 24 May 2007. Findings from the report have also been considered within the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) review of PCSOs (requested by ACPO cabinet), the Flanagan Review of policing and discussed at the Association of Police Authorities (APA) PCSO review meeting; and

· In April 2006 the MPA set up a Domestic Violence Board designed to monitor and scrutinise MPS performance on domestic violence at borough level and across the MPS. The MPA Domestic Violence Board (DVB) has scrutinised the London boroughs of Havering, Croydon, Tower Hamlets, Brent, Hammersmith & Fulham, Sutton, Kensington & Chelsea and Camden. The DVB has also scrutinised central MPS directorates on the topics of ‘Domestic violence specific training within the MPS’ and ‘Potential conflict of investigation policies around domestic violence, rape and sexual offences and child abuse’. The DVB multi agency approach has allowed community and voluntary groups to directly contribute to these scrutinies, which were completed on 12th June 2007 and led to the 2006-07 Domestic Violence Board Annual Report that details 38 recommendations, 16 of which are directed at the MPS and the remaining 22 aimed at government.

· Project Umbra has been a standing agenda item at all DVB meetings and the Chair of the DVB receives regular update reports on the progress of Umbra and other domestic violence issues through regular correspondence with the MPS Commander of the Violent Crime Directorate. Full details of the DVBs findings and achievements are detailed in the MPA Domestic Violence Board Annual Report 2006-07 http://www.mpa.gov.uk/downloads/issues/dvb/2006-2007-annual-report.pdf

· The PPU have also attempted to conduct a gap analysis exercise in June 2007 to identify current groups consulted as part of the public consultation exercise, in order to advise the MPS where appropriate if disproportionality in consultation as identified. However, the team were informed that previous public consultations had not included demographic related questions. The team have revised the public consultation questionnaire for the 2009/10 Policing London Plan. The questionnaire includes an extensive demographic information section included gender/transgender details. This information will allow the Planning and Performance team to cross-reference responses with demographics of respondent, possibly identifying issues that are more likely to affect male, female and transgender individuals.

74. Through its Improvement Programme the MPA are particularly focusing on values and behaviours and in developing new training and leadership models, as well as fine-tuning human resources policies. There is considerable overlap in terms of the progression of work for all of the quality strands and particular objectives feature in current individual equality schemes. For example the review of all HR policies and the execution of the equal pay audit, this is because these actions have a potential impact on all six if the equality strands. The review of all MPA HR policies is on track for completion by the target date of March 2009. The retirement and redundancy policies have already been reviewed and a work schedule is being prepared in liaison with the PCS union to progress the rest of this work. As mentioned earlier the Equal Pay Audit has also been completed. The Audit concluded that there was no inbuilt bias in the pay system. The MPA Human Resources Unit is currently exploring how gender equality training will be included in the MPA training programme. Gender Equality training will also be a factor when conducting a Training Needs Analysis for a management development programme.

75. In regards to the MPA supporting career progression and development of female police officers and police staff in the MPS. There was a view that there was a need for ‘quick wins’ on this issue from a number of those who gave evidence to the scrutiny on talent management and succession planning both in terms of existing staff and those who were considering the police service as a career. Equally important was the need for trust and confidence in the selection processes in order to ensure the best candidates were appointed on merit.

76. The scrutiny panel felt It should be possible to develop some positive action initiative for new recruits and existing staff from under-represented groups as part of fast track routes to Superintending ranks or the High Potential Development Scheme, e.g. tailored training and development programmes. There also needed to be more work around under representation in specialist roles. Whilst the MPS has enjoyed a great deal of success in attracting BME and women police officers to specialist units, this work now needs to be built upon. For example, in Specialist Crime, Specialist Operations, Central Operations, Operational Services and Territorial Policing pan-London units, the numbers of women and BMEs at Inspector level and above are mostly in single figures. The scrutiny panel wished to see some positive action initiatives to address this.

77. There are a number of recommendations around improving the access of women and BMEs to training and development opportunities including coaching, mentoring, work shadowing and external secondment and business school opportunities. The scrutiny panel prefers a more formal, structured approach, ideally as part of a 'development centre' programme both in terms of managing progression and encouraging lateral development, i.e. into and out of specialist or non-specialist roles.
78. In terms of secondments, the experience with the London First Leadership programme for senior police officers and police staff has proved very successful, but the scrutiny panel felt this needs to be expanded to involve other partners and other sectors for middle and junior ranking officers. The MPS are due to respond to the MPA's scrutiny report at the full Authority meeting in April 2008. This will include their own ideas/proposals around career development and progression.

79. The MPS have developed targets for female recruitment with a view to increasing representation. The targets are 44% female recruitment for police officers and 35% recruitment for PCSOs. The aim is by 2017/18 to increase the proportion of police officers who are women to 30% and the proportion of PCSOs who are women to 45%. The proportion of police staff who are women is already 58%. This will depend upon annual, budgeted recruitment numbers being agreed each year by the Authority .

80. In terms of MPA Member recruitment the MPA Committee Liaison and Member Services Unit will continue to ensure that, as far as possible, the overall makeup of the membership is representative in terms of gender balance. This will include reviewing whether there are any aspects of the recruitment process that need to be addressed so that women are not discouraged from applying, and monitoring the gender balance of potential and actual applicants through the recruitment process to identify any issues that can be addressed. It should be noted that the Police & Justice Act 2007 has made changes to the composition of the MPA's membership and the way it is appointed, including the removal of magistrates as a separate membership category. These changes are being introduced by Regulation. However, because of delays in finalising these regulations, the Home Secretary has extended the present Independent and Magistrate membership until 30 September. This has delayed the recruitment timetable, which will start around April 2008, but the selection panel will address the specific actions that the unit listed in the GES action plan at that time.

Race
81. The MPA produced its second Race Equality Scheme in May 2005. This, together with the MPS’ Race Equality Scheme, was considered by EODB members in July 2005 and ratified by full Authority in September 2005.
82. The purpose of the Race Equality Scheme (RES) is to ensure that the Authority’s policies and functions meet the duties of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000. The general duty of the Act requires the MPA to:
· Eliminate unlawful racial discrimination;
· Promote equality of opportunity; and
· Promote good relations between persons of different racial groups.
· The MPA is also required, under Section 404 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999, to promote equality of opportunity for all persons irrespective of their race, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief and to eliminate unlawful discrimination.
83. The MPA has made good progress in carrying forward the actions contained within the Action Plan of the 2005 – 2008 Scheme. Examples of that progress can be seen in:
· MPA members equal opportunities accountability – has been addressed in the adoption of the new model code of conduct on 21 June 2007;
· Developing links between the diversity structures of both the MPA and MPS – has been advanced by the MPS Diversity Board tying-in its business with that of the MPA Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board and by regular one-to-one meetings between the Director of Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate and the MPA Head of Equality and Diversity;
· The identification and agreement of MPA involvement in cross-agency equality initiatives – has been progressed in the, strengthening, GLA family convergence agenda and in the area of emergency planning (Disability Resilience Conference 17 March 2006);
· Developing links between GLA processes and MPA structures – has been progressed through the GLA budget and equalities process (EODB 4 October 2007);
· Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) of the implementation of the reform programme of the Independent Custody Visiting (ICV) scheme – all the policies to effect the reform have been subject to EIA (http://www.mpa.gov.uk/issues/equality/eias.htm );
· Outcome of Impact Assessment and monitoring arrangements for MPS procurement policy – phases 1 and 2 have been worked through and the policy is subject to scrutiny by the MPA Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board (meeting of 1 December 2005), meetings of MPA/MPS officers and the Procurement Oversight Group (http://www.mpa.gov.uk/committees/eodb/2005/051201/11.htm and http://www.mpa.gov.uk/committees/eodb/2005/051201/11.htm);
· Progress and EIA the development of borough and pan-London community scrutiny and consultation on race issues – this is being taken forward through the mechanisms of the MPA Community Monitoring Network (CMN), the MPA Stop and Search Review Board (SSRB) and various MPS Stop and Search boards;
· Implement impact assessment programme and procedures – guidance on EIA has been issued and placed on the MPA website, staff and members have received training on EIA (April 2005 and April 2006) and EIAs are placed in the public domain on the MPA website
Reference: (http://www.mpa.gov.uk/issues/equality/eias.htm);
· Mainstreaming of equalities considerations into the committee reports process – guidance has been issued to report writers, Equality and Diversity Unit staff sit on some committees and sub-committees and each committee has adopted one or more specific equalities objectives, which will be monitored in their annual reports to full authority (Report to full Authority 20.12.07);
· Development and monitoring of the effectiveness of the MPA/MPS Community Engagement Strategy – the strategy has been put in place (paper to full Authority 28 September 2006) but it is too soon to evaluate its effectiveness;
· Consider access and signage requirements in MPA premises – a disability access audit has been carried out (report dated 13 November 2007), non-audible fire warning devices were installed in October 2006 and Braille signs (since before August 2006) are now in place;
· Progress update and performance monitoring of the MPA complaints procedure and the outcome of EIA – updates on and monitoring of the procedure is carried out at each meeting of the MPA Standards Committee (last occasion was 21 June 2007) and the EIA on the procedure is nearing completion;
· Progress in meeting the specific employment duties in the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 – the statistics produced as a result of these duties are regularly scrutinised by the MPA HR function, the MPA Equal Opportunity and Diversity Board and through the GLA Budget and Equality process;
· Progress and monitoring of the arrangements for training of MPA staff and members – Training has been delivered on the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 (March 2005) and equality impact assessment (April 2005 and April 2006);
· While actions will continue in many of the action plan areas, particularly by way of monitoring and looking at outcomes for initiatives that have been put into place, the MPA is aware that further work needs to be done, particularly in the areas of:
· Equality Standard for Local Government (ESLG). (A report on the MPA progress against the Standard is at item 15 of the agenda of this meeting);
· Corporate Strategy;
· Equalities training;
· These areas of work will form the nucleus of a reviewed and renewed race element of the MPA Generic Equality Scheme.
Reference: MPA: Committees: EODB reports - 07-Feb-08 (13)

Acronyms and abbreviations:

ACPO

Association of Chief Police Officers

APA

Association of Police Authorities

BME

Black and Minority Ethnic

BOCU

Borough Operational Command Unit

BSL

British Sign Language

CAE

Centre for Accessible Environments

CDRP

Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership

CEG

Community Engagement Group

CLAMS

Committee Liaison and Members Services (MPA)

CMN

Community Monitoring Network

CPCGs

Community Police Consultative Groups

CPS

Crown Prosecution Service

CSBs

Community Safety Boards

DCFD

Diversity & Citizen Focus Directorate (MPS)

DDA

Disability Discrimination Act

DES

Disability Equality Scheme

DIAG

Disability Independent Advisory Group

DVB

Domestic Violence Board (MP)

DVD

Digital Versatile Disc (video)

EDU

Equality Diversity Unit (MPA)

EHRC

Equality and Human Rights Commission

EIA

Equality Impact Assessment

EODB

Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board (MPA)

EPU

Equality and Partnership Unit (MPA)

EqIAs

Equality Impact Assessments

ESfLG

Equality Standard for Local Government

GES

Gender Equality Scheme

GLA

Greater London Authority

GLA Family Group

GLA, London Development Agency, London fire & Emergency planning Authority, MPS, MPA, and TFL.

GNES

Generic Equality Scheme

HAFAD

Hammersmith and Fulham Action on Disability

HCCG

Hate Crime Coordinators Group (MPA)

HR

Human Resources

IAG

Independent Advisory Group

ICV

Independent Custody Visiting Scheme (MPA)

LGBT

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender

MPA

Metropolitan Police Authority

MPS

Metropolitan Police Service

NPIA

National Policing Improvement Agency

PCS

Public Commercial Services Union

PCSOs

Police Community Support Officers

PPU

Performance and Planning Unit

RRA

Race Relations Act

RES

Race Equality Scheme

RHCF

London Race Hate Crime Forum (MPA)

SMT

Senior Management Team

SSRB

Stop and Search Review Board

TfL

Transport for London

C. Race and equality impact

We will need to ensure that the scheme is adding value to the MPA and fully reflects all of the systems that we have in place, to ensure that we are not discriminatory in terms of any of the services we provide. Whilst our practices and polices in the GNES may be good we also need to ensure that we do not become complacent about our achievement and successes, so that we continually strive to improve our services as well as develop good practice. More importantly we need to ensure that we have robust scrutiny and monitoring process for the MPA so that we continue to lead by example, and address any inequalities within the MPA. The current MPA Race Equality Scheme was only to last until 2008. The scheme will be reviewed and renewed in 2008 and will become the race element of the MPA Generic Equality Scheme. All outstanding areas of work will be carried forward into a new action plan, to be added-to to reflect the current situation of the MPA and MPS and the views of the people of London.

D. Financial implications

The budget that EDU were given to co–ordinate work on the GNES in 2007 was £7k. At the time of writing EDU have not yet agreed a financial settlement but it is hoped that the work of the GNES is resourced adequately.

E. Background papers

1. ‘Disabled people and the labour market in London: Key facts analysis of the 2005’ Annual population survey, GLA, March 2005.

2. ‘Access Audit Report’ Centre for Accessible Environments, November 2007.

3. Remploy, www.remploy.co.uk, December 2006

4. GLA family group, www.london.gov.uk,

5. ‘MPA Equal Opportunities Diversity Board (EODB) paper: A London Emergency Planning Seminar’, MPA, September 2006

6. ‘Counter Terrorism Debate: The London Debate’, MPA planning submission: Andrew Hull, March 2006 (internal) / October 2006.

7. MPA committee reports as listed on MPA website.

Below you will find the links to our equalities schemes:

• MPA: Reports: Disability Equality Scheme http://www.mpa.gov.uk/reports/disabilityequalityscheme.htm
• MPA: Reports: Gender Equality Scheme http://www.mpa.gov.uk/reports/genderequalityscheme.htm
• MPA: Reports: Race Equality Scheme http://www.mpa.gov.uk/reports/raceequalityscheme.htm

F. Contact details

Report author: Julliett Fearon-Knott, Policy Development Officer, Equalities and Diversity Unit,  MPA

For more information contact:

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

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