Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 9
9
Not Addressed
Policing in England and Wales has struggled with increasing ethnic diversity within its ranks.
Conclusion
Policing in England and Wales has struggled with increasing ethnic diversity within its ranks. Based on the 2011 census some 14% of the population of England and Wales are from ethnic minority groups, but in 2019 only 6.9% of serving police officers were from these backgrounds.12 The Department told us that, while there were no targets for ethnic minority recruitment, since the Programme began, the proportion of new recruits from these groups had increased from 10.3% of new recruits to almost 13%. It explained that, as a result, 8% of all police officers who reported their ethnicity were from ethnic minority groups. However, it also admitted that female and ethnic minority candidates are most likely to withdraw from the process.13 Again, there are examples of some forces doing particularly well with West Midlands Police seeing 19.4 per cent of all new recruits being from an ethnic minority background. 7 Q45; Home Affairs Select Committee, The Macpherson Report: Twenty-two years on, HC 139, 30 July 2021, para 2.16–2.17 8 C&AG’s Report, paras 2.11, 2.13 9 Home Office, Police officer uplift, England and Wales, quarterly update to 31 March 2022, published 27 April
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.