Mayor commissions race and faith inquiry from the Metropolitan Police Authority

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5 October 2008

MPA Chairman, Mayor Boris Johnson, will announce tomorrow (Monday 6 October) that the Metropolitan Police Authority will be carrying out a focussed inquiry to explore race and faith issues within the Metropolitan Police Service.

Mayor Boris Johnson said:

"Policing a multi-cultural capital requires the police to have the full confidence of the communities they serve as well as its own staff. It is important that all staff are confident and open about race and faith issues, as this will impact positively on service delivery.

"Having become Chairman of the MPA I have decided the Authority needs to be assured that the changes put in place by the MPS over the past years have indeed taken hold. If not the MPA should make recommendations for positive change."

Cindy Butts, independent member of the MPA who will lead the inquiry, said:

"There has been a lot of press coverage over the last few weeks of how the MPS deals with race issues. This is of great concern for many reasons, not just the impact on other BME police officers and staff within the MPS but the broader consequences for maintaining the confidence of all of London’s communities in the policing it receives and recruiting new officers and staff to reflect London's diversity.

"I will want our focussed inquiry to address concerns about several key issues, including the progression of BME candidates through the ranks of the police service, the relationship between staff associations and management, recruitment, communication and proportionality, and the extent to which there is visible leadership around race issues.

"It is our intention that the inquiry will harness the experience and expertise of a broad range of individuals and organisations from both the public and private sectors and draw on as wide an evidence base as possible, and we anticipate reporting back to the Mayor and the police authority in spring 2009."

Detailed terms of reference will be brought to a future meeting of the full Authority for members to ratify.

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