Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 12
12
Not Addressed
The recent Strategic Review of Policing also concluded that the Programme was ‘having a negligible...
Conclusion
The recent Strategic Review of Policing also concluded that the Programme was ‘having a negligible impact on workforce diversity’.18 We asked the Department if it was disappointed that the comment had been made. The Department told us that it did not believe this was still the case, and that while it would have wanted the Programme to have had a greater impact, it disagreed that its impact had been negligible.19 Impact of the Programme on training reforms
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
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.