PCC Response - An inspection into activism and impartiality in policing
18th November 2024
Dear Home Secretary
I have received and read the HMICFRS report on activism and impartiality in policing and welcome the recommendations contained within it.
One my six core missions is excellence in policing, and I will hold the Chief Constable to account for the delivery of an effective and efficient police service. Nationally, public trust and confidence in the police is at an all-time low. This must be reversed. I have pledged in my Police and Crime Plan to monitor and ensure the highest standards of conduct and behaviour by police officers and police staff and take appropriate action when these are not met. All police officers and police staff are governed by the Code of Ethics and the Professional Standards of behaviour. Impartiality is core to this.
The report emphasises the importance of improving communication with the public which is also identified within my police and crime plan as something that must be prioritised. Excellent governance of police advisory groups and staff networks ensures impartiality and maintains public trust. Recommendations for change include clarifying the duty of impartiality, updating policies, and improving officer training - again this is something we recognise and promote.
On the operational recommendations within the report, I have requested comment from the Chief Constable. The specifics of some these comments are outlined below.
Recommendation 10: Bedfordshire Police have referenced the need to be seen as impartial and apolitical in recent internal blogs and messages from senior leadership, particularly following the Southport incident and subsequent unrest.
Recommendation 12: Work is ongoing to identify who completes Equality Impact Analysis (EIA) and where they should be stored. The Change team also have received training on EIA’s and have a set process that they follow. The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team are also trained or have received training to ensure that they are qualified to support any others that may need to complete an EIA. The ongoing work is confirming if there are any gaps and ensuring that support is provided.
Recommendation 13: Most policies that relate to the Equality Act are managed by HR. These are all in the shared library and have owners and review dates for the policy and the EIA and these are monitored. Any local policies also go into the policy library and must be signed off and have review dates. Policies are also subject to the force Audit process, with several audits being completed around recruitment, governance etc and these will include a review that our policies are correct and up to date.
Recommendation 16: Bedfordshire has a Hate Crime Partnership Group which meets bi-monthly and focuses on understanding and improving responses to hate crime and incidents. As part of this group, we review data that enables us to understand hate crime and incidents. We are currently in the process of reviewing our hate crime policy and will take on board these recommendations and update where necessary.
Recommendation 22: The Support group policy was drafted and tested for 24/25 with a process put in place where all groups bid for funding and these bids were reviewed centrally and agreed at people and postings based on the requirements of the group and the needs of the force. E.g. how many people are the group supporting, what are the local processes. How this worked in being reviewed by the EDI process and this policy is currently under review to ensure that it is delivering what is expected and that this process takes all factors into consideration. It is expected that this process will be finalised in the next couple of months to enable bids for 25/26.
All recommendations that require police action have been added to the Bedfordshire Police HMICFRS tracker and these will be being monitored through the Learning, Demand and Futures Board.
Yours Sincerely
John Tizard
Police and Crime Commissioner