MPA leads by example – working towards greater visible ethnic minority representation in London’s police service

04/03
14 January 2003

Figures released today by the Association of Police Authorities show London’s Metropolitan Police Authority is a national leader when it comes to representing visible ethnic minority membership in its composition.

More than 30% of the MPA’s members (7 out of 23) are of visible ethnic minority (VEM) background, which compares favourably to the 25% VEM population of London as a whole. All these members have a positive role in shaping the capital’s police service, reinforcing the Authority’s imperative to engage and reflect the communities that it serves and promote trust and confidence in the police.

The Home Office has today released separate figures detailing national police forces’ progress against the Race Employment Targets. The target for the Met is 25% inclusion of VEM representation by 2009.

Commenting on today’s figures, Toby Harris, Chair of the Authority, said:

“I am pleased that the MPA more than represents the community we serve in terms of our own inclusivity. This sends a strong message to Londoners that we can and do truly reflect the concerns and needs of our diverse communities within the police service.

“Of greater concern to the Authority is the recruitment of black and ethnic minority police officers. While the Home Office statistics released today indicate a positive increase in the percentage of VEM recruits to the Met in the year between April 2001 and 2002 – a 23% increase for that year, representing 4.9% of the workforce total – we know from current figures that we still have a long way to go to achieve the 25% target set for completion by 2009.

“We continue to work closely with the Met to encourage recruits from all of London’s communities. The Authority has established its own recruitment taskforce to examine ways of improving recruitment from visible ethnic minorities, which, together with innovative approaches from the Met’s Positive Action Team, such as the recruitment roadshow Intromet, are having a positive impact. Already in the year to November 2002 the VEM workforce total has increased to 5.21% from 4.81% for the entirety of 2001/02.

“The MPA’s own success in reflecting London’s communities sends the strongest message to people that we are committed to building partnerships to promote trust and confidence in the Metropolitan Police and work toward greater social cohesion.”

Further media information

1. The Association of Police Authorities today published figures giving the gender and ethnic breakdown for members of the 43 police authorities in England and Wales. The figures represent current composition of authorities at January 2003. For more information please call Fionnuala Gill or Claire Cooper on 020 7664 3167/3088.

2. The Home Office today published ‘Race equality: The Home Secretary’s Race Employment Targets’.

3. The most recent available figures for the ethnic breakdown of the Metropolitan Police Service are for November 2002: visible ethnic minority police officers account for 5.21% of the entire service for the period April to November 2002 (compared for 4.81% in the year 2001/02).

4. The MPA’s recruitment Taskforce was established in July 2002. For more information, please see the press release posted on the MPA website

5. For more information about Intromet, the Met’s innovative recruitment roadshow, please see the article published in ‘The Job’, the newspaper for the Metropolitan Police Service.

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