Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Not Addressed
Diversity in policing is slowly improving, but it has continued along the same trend for...
Conclusion
Diversity in policing is slowly improving, but it has continued along the same trend for the past ten years. Prior to the launch of the Programme in September 2019, almost 32% of police officers were female, and by December 2021 this had increased to 34%.10 The Department told us that 36.9% of all officers recruited in 2019–20 were female but that this had increased to 42.4% for those recruited between April 2020 and December 2021 as a result of the Programme’s efforts. It explained that in Lancashire, the proportion of officers recruited who were female had exceeded 50%. The Department told us that it had visited the area to see what learning it could identify for other forces. It explained that Lancashire had an excellent outreach approach with short, targeted bursts of recruitment.11
Government Response Summary
The government's response discusses police diversity data and initiatives, and does not address the point made in the conclusion.
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
5. PAC conclusion: Despite their successes so far, the Department and its partners face a challenging final year to deliver the remainder of the Programme. 5a. PAC recommendation: The Department and its partners should assist forces in monitoring their workforce by including within each statistical release on progress a table setting out the diversity of individual police forces compared to that of their local populations. 5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: January 2023 5.2 The government assists police forces in monitoring their workforce by providing, on a monthly basis, force level diversity data compared to local populations. This uses the Office for National Statistics (ONS) census data from 2011 (the most recent data available). 5.3 Police diversity data is published on a quarterly basis in the Police Officer uplift statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) including sex, ethnicity and age. This includes commentary comparing the ethnicity of police officers to the population in England and Wales using the 2011 census. The ONS release of the 2021 census is expected to be published in October 2022. Post publication of the ONS 2021 census, the department will include within each Uplift statistical release a table setting out the diversity of individual police forces compared to their 2021 local populations. 5.4 Police forces are working hard to improve equality and diversity – training has improved and the workforce is more diverse than ever before. The latest figures, as of 30 June 2022, shows the highest proportion of ethnic minority (excluding white minority) and female police officers in policing since records began. The government is committed to supporting efforts to achieve the diverse police workforce that communities need and to ensure progress is accelerated. 5.5 Sharing best practice, engagement with police staff associations, upskilling recruitment teams, enhanced data capture and delivering a campaign designed to reach the most diverse audience possible, are just some of the efforts being made to improve police diversity through the Police Uplift Programme. 5b. PAC recommendation: The Department should also respond to the Home Affairs Select Committee report ‘The McPherson report: twenty-two years on’, particularly the recommendations relating to targets for the recruitment and retention of officers from ethnic minority groups and staff and ensuring that police forces are representative of the communities they serve. 5.6 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 5.7 The government agrees with the recommendation to respond to the Macpherson report and the need for police forces to be representative of the communities they serve. 5.8 The government’s response to ‘The Macpherson Report: twenty-two years on’ was published on 26 May 2022. 5.9 Through the Police Uplift Programme, the government has made significant improvements to workforce data, created an inclusive campaign and worked directly with forces on outreach, engagement and sharing best practice. The previous Policing Minister has written to forces, challenging them to fully exploit the opportunity uplift provides to make improvements to force representation levels. These letters compared progress between forces, demonstrating the ministerial drive to make diversity improvements. The data was also reviewed at the National Policing Board in March 2021. 5.10 Diverse recruitment is not an exercise in meeting a quota – it is about making lasting improvements to diversity and inclusion in policing. For this reason, the government does not agree that the setting of diversity recruitment targets is the right lever to support forces recruitment and retention practices however the oversight of progress across all forces is critical. Population demographics vary by force area and each force should be striving to be representative of the communities it serves. 5.11 Forces are maximising the opportunity to increase their representation, Across the service, 8.1% of officers are from ethnic minority groups. Across new intakes since April 2020, 11.7% of new recruits are from ethnic minority groups. Forces will be able to build on the work of the uplift programme beyond its lifetime to continue to grow their representation.