Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 5
5
Accepted
Black communities, particularly youth, expect less fair and respectful treatment from police
Conclusion
Fairness, respect and impartiality are core values that should be fundamental to policing. So the fact that Black people, and especially Black Caribbean people, have much lower expectations than White people that they will be treated fairly and with respect by the police is a matter of deep and serious concern. The problem is particularly acute for young people. Those we heard from in London expressed strong sentiments of anger and frustration towards the police, particularly about the way in which they felt police officers did not treat them fairly or with respect, and also expressed the lack of confidence they had that the police would keep them safe. (Paragraph 68) 176 The Macpherson Report: Twenty-two years on
Government Response Summary
The government states that police forces are using positive action provisions from the Equality Act 2010 to increase representation, with updated guidance from the College and new guidance in development as part of 'Inclusive Britain,' alongside Police Uplift Programme investment in diverse recruitment.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Government has been clear that police forces should be using the positive action provisions of the Equality Act 2010 to increase representation in policing. The College issued updated guidance on this in March 2020. Many forces are using these provisions, and some are seeking to test their boundaries to make full use of the opportunities they provide. Inclusive Britain also includes an action for the Government Equalities Office to draft new updated guidance on positive action by the end of this year. During the current national recruitment campaign there has been investment through the Police Uplift Programme to build force capabilities within recruitment and communications teams, and in positive action practitioners. This includes: • sharing insight work within communities and focusing on different ethnic groups to identify barriers to being attracted to a career in policing; • developing guidance, toolkits and workshops on attraction and effective positive action strategies; • providing a central repository of assets based on the insight for forces to tailor for local use; • undertaking external review and support to improve force websites to incorporate good practice and frequently asked questions; • undertaking peer reviews to share good practice; • developing training for positive action practitioners; • developing an adverse impact tool supported by workshops to understand relative success rates at each stage of the selection processes to inform positive action tactics to support specific sub-groups; and • running Discovery Events, supported by good practice guides and assets, to help run online and face-to-face recruitment events. The Home Office encourages forces to make best use of College guidance on the current legislative provisions to improve representation of currently under-represented groups, through positive action provisions contained within the Equality Act 2010. Local decisions are a matter for individual Chief Constables and will depend on local circumstance to ensure compliance with the legal provisions. To support these decisions, guidance on the use of legislation (specifically Sections 149, 158 and 159 of the Equality Act 2010) has been developed by the NPCC Equality Diversity and Inclusion Coordination Committee and issued to Chief Constables in August 2021. This guidance supplements the College 2020 guidance. Chief Constables are bound by Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, the Public Sector Equality Duty provisions, which place a duty upon them to eliminate unlawful discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share different protected characteristics. The positive action provisions within the Equality Act 2010 are helpful tools in supporting the achievement of these aims. The latest uplift data publication to March 2022 showed that 18 forces are recruiting in line with or in excess of their local ethnic minority populations. Notably, this includes Greater Manchester and Nottinghamshire police who, have recruited a proportion of ethnic minority recruits of 16.6% and 13.2% respectively, compared to their local ethnic minority populations of 16.2% and 11.2% (Census 2011). These forces demonstrate what can be achieved in some of the more ethnically diverse areas of England and Wales. The use of positive action provisions must be assessed on the basis of local circumstances however, and as such local decision making is a matter for individual Chief Constables and will depend on local context to ensure compliance with the legal provisions. The Home Office is aware of proposals set out by the Commissioner in relation to amendments to section 159 of the Equality Act 2010. The proposals have been considered alongside wider consideration of the progress being made by forces in fully utilising all the positive action provisions available under the Equality Act 2010. At the present time Ministers believe that more evidence of the benefit of these proposals across policing would be required before a proposal to make temporary amendments to the Equality Act would be considered. Replied together Given the enduring nature of this problem a clear framework is needed for holding Chief Constables and police forces to account and ensuring that there is follow up action where forces do not make sufficient progress. Progress against local targets must be assessed regularly by the Home Secretary, acting through the National Policing Board. The Home Secretary has powers in legislation to require HMICFRS inspections where there are concerns about force operational performance on particular matters, and to require specified measures in the face of persistent failings. Given the importance of representative recruitment to restoring legitimacy and confidence as well as the lack of progress on this issue over decades since the Macpherson report, we recommend that the Home Secretary use these powers where forces continue to fail to make sufficient progres