The NPIA's Equality Standard is a key part of the strategy and is a framework to enable police forces across England and Wales to meet the needs of their diverse communities as well as those inside the service. Policing and Crime Minister Rt Hon David Hanson MP said: "It is vital our police service has the trust and confidence of all communities and reflects the people it serves. In our Green Paper last year we set out a vision to improve diversity in the force and I welcome both the strategy and the Equality Standard in helping to deliver it." Chief Constable Peter Neyroud, Chief Executive of the NPIA, said: "We have produced the Equality Standard to encourage the police to tailor the services and internal processes to the needs of groups within the police as well as communities they serve. The Standard will help forces increase public confidence in policing to benefit people inside and outside the service. It will enable forces to reduce staff turnover and increase staff satisfaction by improving recruitment, retention and progression of under-represented groups inside the service. By doing this, forces can build a more diverse, skilled workforce that reflects their communities more closely." ACPO lead for equality, diversity and human rights, Chief Constable Stephen Otter, said: "Policing has undergone great change to meet the evolving and diverse needs of society and the people we serve. In recent years the police service has made real progress in delivering improvements in equality and diversity. We remain committed to meeting the needs of various communities by keeping equality, diversity and human rights at the heart of the service we provide. "The Equality, Diversity & Human Rights Strategy for the Police Service sets out the direction and priorities for future change and improvement. The Equality Standard for the Police Service provides a framework for assessment and improvement which will enable forces and Authorities to integrate equality activity into every area of policing business. "These two initiatives provide us with a real opportunity to deliver consistent and long term improvements in the quality of service that we provide to all of the communities." Association of Police Authorities (APA) Chairman Rob Garnham said: "The APA has worked closely with our policing partners to make sure that both the equality strategy and the Equality Standard are designed to achieve the outcomes that communities want in making the police service fairer and more equitable. "This work will assist the APA and police authorities to identify improvements in policing both locally and nationally, and by involving communities, increase confidence in policing." To avoid unnecessary duplication, the Standard does not require the police to carry out any new tasks but to demonstrate how they are delivering equality improvements in areas where there has been long-standing criticism. It requires evidence from existing activities such as local policing plans, impact assessments, evaluations of deployments, and investigations as well as records of community engagement and partnership work. It is flexible to take account of differing policing styles, conditions and priorities across forces in England and Wales. There are formal arrangements for updating it to ensure that it remains challenging enough to sustain improvement. Notes to Editors Press must register to attend the official launch. To register or for further information about the Equality Standard, please contact NPIA Press Office on 020 7147 8310/8297/8424/8308.
The National Policing Improvement Agency is launching its Equality Standard for the Police Service whilst ACPO, the Home Office and the Association of Police Authorities are launching an overarching strategy for improving equality.
The forces taking part in the three month field-tests earlier this year were: Northumbria, Cleveland, Lancashire, Derbyshire, North Wales, City of London, Sussex, Devon & Cornwall, Kent, Greater Manchester and the Metropolitan Police Service.
Copies of the Equality Standard for the Police Service will be available at http://www.npia.police.uk/en/11975.htm. Copies are also available from the NPIA press office. The official launch of the Equality Standard will take place at the Park Plaza Hotel, 239 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London on 2 December between 2pm and 4pm.
The NPIA is a single national organisation created to support effective policing. It provides expertise in areas as diverse as information and communications technology, support for information and intelligence sharing, core police processes, managing change and recruiting, and developing and deploying people. NPIA works for the police service and is governed by a tripartite board comprising ACPO, APA, Home Office and independent members. For more information about the NPIA, please visit www.npia.police.uk.
