Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 66
66
Accepted
Home Office and police fail to sufficiently address race equality duties for new technologies.
Conclusion
Under the Equality Act 2010 the Home Office and the police have a legal duty to consider the equality impact of new policies, measures or technologies on race equality or other protected characteristics. We do not believe that this responsibility is currently being taken seriously enough. The Home Office, NPCC and College of Policing should work together to identify the range of new policing technologies or measures for which national race equality assessments should be done or where new research and data gathering is needed to anticipate, monitor or swiftly address unjustified race disparities. (Paragraph 472) Racism and the police twenty-two years on
Government Response Summary
The government commits to working with the NPCC and College of Policing to develop a national ethics framework, which will include high-quality impact assessments for new technologies to address racial disparities, directly responding to the call for collaboration on race equality assessments.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Home Office continues to support the police to ensure they have the powers, tools and technology they need to support communities and tackle crime effectively. The public rightly expects the Government to support operational partners in making use of technology to tackle serious harm such as knife crime, rape and serious sexual assault, child sexual exploitation, terrorism, and other serious offences. The Home Office will therefore back and empower the police to use new technologies to tackle crime in a way that maintains public trust. As part of this commitment, it is vital that there are processes and governance in place to ensure that new technology is used fairly and proportionately. The Home Office supported the appointment of the National Policing Chief Scientific Advisor, Professor Paul Taylor (CSA), who took up post in June 2021, because ensuring that all technological developments in policing are based on good evidence and the best understanding of science is crucial. Professor Taylor chairs a police science and technology investment board, which demands rigorous quality assurance of all proposals. Professor Taylor is also represented on the relevant NPCC committees and is developing national research and development guidance with the College. The Home Office also supports the adoption of artificial intelligence procurement guidance produced by the Government Office for Artificial Intelligence and, more broadly, the principles of open science. Inclusive Britain also sets out a series of concrete actions across Government and the wider sector to harness Artificial Intelligence for an inclusive future. The Home Office will work with the NPCC, the College and the police to support the development of a national ethics framework for policing. The Home Office expects this framework to underpin the need for high-quality impact assessments and be applied to all new applications of technology and data processing intended to support operational decisions that have significant implications for individuals. The way in which people lead their lives is becoming increasingly digital and this is changing society, criminality, and the communities policing serves. The Government will support innovation to confront ever more sophisticated criminality, protect people from harm and enable police to work effectively and efficiently in a rapidly changing world.