Update on how equality and diversity will enable the MPS to deliver a representative workforce

Report: 08
Date: 25 September 2008
By: Director of Human Resources on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report is a follow up to the focus EODB discussion item in April 2008 on the role equality and diversity plays in enabling the MPS to have a workforce that is representative of London. The questions asked were in relation to the impact of positive action initiatives; the impact of the transfer of the Diversity Learning and Development Branch to Human Resources; an update on progress of MetHR self service; a further analysis of the ‘your views count’ survey and details of any recent Equalities Impact Assessments.

A. Recommendations

That the board note the contents of this report.

B. Supporting information

1. Positive Action Programmes have been evaluated in terms of impact on individuals’ progression and retention. In addition, a high level assessment has been made regarding how the profile of under-represented groups at police officer and police staff ranks and grades has changed over the last ten years; resignation rates of under-represented groups of police officers and police staff have also been examined. Although a direct correlation between these indicators and positive action cannot be assumed, it may be an indicator.

2. Overall, there has been an increase in BME representation at all ranks. Representation of BME police officers at Sergeant and above rose from an average of approximately 1% in 1999 to around 3% in 2008. In terms of retention, BME resignations have fallen from 4.6% in 2003/4 to 2.1% in 2006/7; in that same period the female resignation rate fell from 2.2% to 1.5%.

Encompass

3. Encompass is a development programme aimed at female managers at Inspector, Sergeant, Band D and other equivalent bands; 479 police officers and police staff have taken part. 10 MPS trainers are licensed by the Springboard consultancy to deliver this internally at a cost of £53,000 (this includes trainer training, training packs and accommodation for the training). The additional spend on Encompass (including venue hire, catering etc) 2004-2007 was approximately £24,000.

Active Career Development Programme (ACDP)

4. This scheme was launched in 1999; its aim was to support progression of BME officers from Inspector to Superintendent (55 officers took part at a cost of £38,025, equating to £613 per head). Only two female officers took part however only a very small number of eligible officers were female. All participants have remained within the MPS. The Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate managed the scheme; concentrated development activity last took place in 2002. An evaluation in 2005 showed that of 20 officers who were Inspectors upon joining the ACDP, one officer had been promoted to Chief Superintendent, five to Superintendent and 14 to Chief Inspector.

0-5 programme

5. This scheme is open to police officers from BME backgrounds who have less than 5 years’ service; 53 female officers and 129 males have taken part. There was an evaluation of the 0-5 scheme undertaken by Internal Consultancy Group in December 2003. In summary it identified that the programme was effective and was well received by both mentors and mentees and identified a number of practical issues to improve the programme including more standardised training for mentors. A report was also presented to the MPA soon after.

Whilst an analysis of the retention of these individuals has not been undertaken, turnover of BME officers during their first 12 months of service has steadily declined since 2004/5, falling from 13% to 3.6%. The creation of the Student Options and Support Unit has also had an impact.

Female Police Staff Mentoring Programme

6. Sixteen people took part on or prior to June 2005. Of these staff, six were Band B and 10 were Band C when they joined the scheme. Mentees were predominantly White-British (15 of the 16 participants). This is in keeping with the female Band B and C population of the MPS as at the end of the 2007-8 financial year. As at the end of the 2007-8 financial year, eight of these mentees were at the same grade (50%), three had been promoted (18.75%) and five had left the MPS (31.25%). The programme cost around £4,000.

‘Sticky Floors’ programme

7. This programme was aimed at BME women in police staff Bands E, F, G. Twelve people took part at a cost of £8,420. It only finished in February 2008, so it's still very early to comment on the success of the programme; however an initial review showed at that two out of the 12 participants were promoted, one was successful in getting a secondment and at least one participant transferred into another job (laterally).

National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) in Business Administration

8. The Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate funded a number of places on the NVQ in Business Administration for female BME police staff in 2007. Twelve staff embarked on this NVQ at a cost of £11,000.

Female and Ethnic Minority Detective Training Programme

9. This scheme was designed to provide female and ethnic minority uniformed Inspectors and Chief Inspectors with developmental opportunities to assist them to pass the detective selection process. Fourteen officers attended this scheme, three were male, and 11 were female. All but one of these officers is now either a Detective Inspector or Detective Chief Inspector.

Positive Action Leadership Programme (PALP)

10. This is aimed at encouraging officers and police staff from under represented groups to stay in the Service and to apply for progression (people up to Chief Inspector/ Band D are eligible). The programme is delivered by the National Policing Improvement Agency at nil cost to the MPS. MetHR records show that 460 members of police staff have the Centrex Personal Leadership Programme shown on their training history. These comprise:

• one MPA staff member, 180 police officers (whose current ranks range from Police Constable to Superintendent), 230 police staff (Bands B to G), 46 PCSOs and three traffic wardens.
• 218 females attended the course, and 242 males attended the course.
• The majority of attendees were BME (426 of 460 attendees, 92.6%).

11. This programme has always been owned and developed by CENTREX/NPIA who undertake evaluation. An evaluation of the long term impact on individuals’ careers was not carried out within the MPS due to lack of staff available to carry out the analysis - the organisational development team consisted of 1 individual and there was no access to a performance analyst.

Since January 2008, Human Resources Directorate have been managing the PALP, approximately 12 people have attended per month. It is too early to evaluate impact; individuals’ progress will be tracked at 6,12 and 18 months after participation via a structured evaluation questionnaire. Anecdotally we know that two individuals have been promoted since attending the January programme. The head of the Career Management Unit has put together a bid for a performance analyst to work within his team; part of their remit will be to evaluate all positive action programmes. This will include an analysis of the impact of all of the programmes mentioned within this report.

Accredited Introduction to Management programme

12. This eleven-week programme took place in 2007; it was aimed at BME police officers and police staff in non-managerial roles. The group consisted of eight PCs and seven police staff (including PCSOs). Two of the PCs are now Sergeants, one of the police staff has been promoted to band C and one has become a police officer. Participants’ careers will continue to be tracked. The programme cost £15,000, evaluation showed that whilst individuals spoke very highly of the content, it did not represent good value for money overall. This was because the price per person was twice as much as the NVQ in team leading currently open to all in the MPS. We also received a London Development Agency subsidy of £7500, which is no longer available. More importantly, the Career Management Unit are now piloting an alternative programme utilising government Train 2 Gain funds. This programme will cover the same issues and will include an element of coaching in addition. Thirteen BME constables who have failed the final part of the Sergeant’s promotion process recently will be taking part.

Springboard programme

13. Aimed at non-managerial women, this programme took place most recently from January-April 2008. In the five months since these individuals began the course, two have been promoted; one PCSO and one police staff member have become police officers. Each programme costs approximately £4000.

Future of Positive Action

14. From January 2008, the Career Management Unit has launched a range of development options known as ‘promoting difference’. To date 143 people have taken part in a range of programmes. The programme is being continuously expanded. All elements will be subject to a thorough evaluation process whereby individuals will be contacted at 6,12 and 18 months after participation so that impact upon their career can be monitored. Participants are encouraged to form ‘action learning sets’ and to keep in touch with the Career Management Unit. So that promoting difference is as sustainable as possible, government funding, partnerships with the Safer London Foundation and the business community have been utilised rather than MPS funds.

Integration of the Diversity Learning and Development Unit into Human Resources (HR)

15. The Diversity Learning and Development Unit joined HR on 1 April 2008 following a realignment of the responsibilities of Management Board members and a desire to main-stream the work of the Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate into the wider MPS. Since this time, work has been ongoing to explore how the Unit can most effectively be integrated into the existing HR structure both in the short-term and as part of the transformed HR operating model. HR are keen to ensure that the opportunities offered by this move and the associated skills and experience of the team are maximised whilst retaining a clear focus on delivering the desired objectives of the MPS Race & Diversity Learning and Development Programme (RDLDP). Proposals are currently being finalised for presentation to HR Board but seek to position a core functionality within the HR Organisational Development Team (with responsibility for enhancing the strategic coordination of equality and diversity related issues across the Directorate) as well as align resources to the Leadership Academy and Career Management Unit where synergies between both positive action activity and the development of MPS leadership capability can be fully capitalised on.

MetHR Confidential Screen

16. Consultation with all staff associations and unions is currently taking place to gain support for a communication piece encouraging officers and staff across the organisation to complete the confidential screen. The majority of unions and staff associations have confirmed that they support the message and the need to gather this information. A corporate news item will be published in due course, once responses have been provided by all. Human Resources have used the following options to increase use of the screen.

Publicising the MetHR diversity screen

17. A page has now been published on the MetHR site promoting diversity monitoring, and includes a link to the confidential screen. The information provides an overview of the screen and the drivers for collecting the data.

Recruitment

18. Since April 2007, all PCSOs, police staff and police officers who apply through a centrally managed process to join the MPS have been asked to complete a form which captures information on all six diversity strands (based on a Home Office template). This information is entered directly onto MetHR. In addition the team are encouraging applicants to complete the screen by including information in selection process materials.

Police officer promotion

19. The central promotions team have agreed to include information encouraging officers to complete the confidential screen within materials used for corporate promotion processes.

Transforming Human Resources

20. The programme team have agreed that the computer based training that will be rolled out to all officers and staff in the MPS before THR go-live will include an overview of the diversity screen (e.g. a worked example on how to access this screen, as part of their self-service familiarisation training). In addition, the team are currently providing people management training to approximately 8,000 1st and 2nd line managers. Trainers will also be encouraging managers to complete the screen and also promote the benefits to their staff.

Completion rates

21. Due to the work outlined above, there have been marked increases in completion rates since the start of the year. For example between January and June 2008 entries in relation to Disability increased from 1211 to 2844 and for sexual orientation there was an increase from 1375 to 3061. Total increase (including Religion, Faith and Belief, Disability, Disability Description, Sexual Orientation and Transsexual, Transgender and Intersex) was 5039.

22. An evaluation of the barriers to completing the screen is underway and feedback will be captured and discussed with the MetHR team in order to assess options to work towards further increases in completion rates. Early findings indicate that there is a need to communicate the drivers for completing the screen to officers and staff across the organisation. Work will continue with all business groups.

‘Your Views Count’ Staff Survey Data

23. Paragraph 24 of the report presented in April 2008 made reference to the results of the Your Views Count staff survey which showed that 75% of respondents (Year 1, quarter 2) stated that their line manager ‘valued their contribution’. Members questioned the 25% of MPS staff who didn’t feel valued; specifically who they were and what were the issues underpinning this response. It is important to set this data in context. Aggregate survey results from year 1 show that the proportion of respondents who agree their line manager values their contribution has risen slightly to 76%. However, it must be recognised that this does not, by default, mean that 24% do not feel valued. A closer look at the corporate data shows that 16% have 'mixed views' on the issue. The proportion of respondents who disagree with the statement that their line manager values their contribution is notably lower than 24%. In fact, the data shows it is around 7%. It should also be noted that a key objective of the staff survey was to provide a temperature check of the staff experience in the MPS and a prompt for where we may wish to explore further. A conscious decision was taken to keep the survey focused to promote engagement and boost completion rates. It would be unwieldy to ask staff to explain in qualitative terms the rationale behind their responses each question hence it is difficult to state why certain respondents do not feel that their line manager values their contribution. A broad question is asked regarding the one thing that would make an individual’s job better. Aggregate Year 1 results show that being valued by line managers does not feature in the top three. Rather these issues centre on having the right and fully functional equipment, training and increased administrative support

24. As has been mentioned in previous papers to the Authority, the MPS will be able to cut and examine the results at both the Business Group level and in many cases the business unit (OCU) level. This analysis is currently underway and will be made available to the organisation later this month. It will also be shared with the Authority. In addition, we will have the opportunity to look at the data in accordance with various demographic variables e.g. rank/grade. This means that we will be able to identify whether certain groups feel a particular way about issues e.g. are those people who don’t feel valued by their line manager concentrated in a given business area, or are they from a particular demographic grouping.

25. To complement the corporate picture of the staff experience, HR will look to Business Groups to take ownership of survey data and responsibility for actioning data at the local level so that interventions can be as meaningful and targeted as possible in terms of enhancing the employee experience and improving service delivery. Led by HR, corporate monitoring will continue to take place - current work is underway to examine how staff survey items may be incorporated into the corporate health indicators being developed by Anne McMeel and reviewed at Performance Board.

Equalities Impact Assessments

26. In preparation for the Transforming Human Resources (THR) launch, a programme of review is underway for all HR policies; this includes an equalities impact assessment on each. This programme is ongoing and will be completed in time for the launch of THR.

Abbreviations

ACDP

Active Career Development Programme

BME

Black and Minority Ethnic

HR

Human Resources

NVQ

National Vocational Qualification

OCU

Operational Command Unit

PALP

Positive Action Leadership Programme

PCSO

Police Community Support Officer

RDLDP

Race & Diversity Learning and Development Programme

THR

Transforming Human Resources

C. Race and equality impact

Contained within supporting information where the history and impact of positive action initiatives are described.

D. Financial implications

There are no financial implications. A system is now in place to evaluate positive action initiatives in terms of value for money.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author(s): Michelle Hickman, Career Management Unit, MPS

For more information contact:

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

Send an e-mail linking to this page

Feedback