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A damning report has hit out at “glacial” progress in police chiefs’ flagship plan to stamp out racism in Britain’s forces.
The new government has been urged to step in and take responsibility for the police race action plan (Prap) and take it out of the hands of chief constables by the Independent Scrutiny and Oversight Board (ISOB).
Their critical report comes just weeks after the National Black Police Association withdrew its support for the action plan, which was launched four years ago in a bid to drive discrimination out of police ranks.
It was announced by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing in the wake of the murder in the US of George Floyd by a police officer, which triggered protests around the world.
But the NBPA, which represents thousands of minority ethnic officers across the UK, claims the race action plan working environment is “toxic” and the experiences and views of Black people are “neither listened to nor valued”.
The latest ISOB report called for the government to take on responsibility for the action plan and accelerate reforms to create a fairer policing system for Black communities.
It found progress had been “glacial” in some areas and said a lack of a uniform position from the police on institutional racism remains a “fundamental hurdle”.
The report said: “Policing has had 3.5 years to deliver against Prap’s anti-racist goal and continues to fall short of true success.”
National Black Police Association president Andy George backed calls for government intervention after seeing a 2.5-fold increase in members needing support after suffering discrimination.
He told The Independent: “The government needs to take control of this. It needs to be forced on policing.
“They need to make sure that there is actual teeth to this. It has been four years and the situation has actually gotten worse for our members.
“Please just take it off their hands and empower communities and those civil society groups to bring about the many recommendations that they have failed to deliver so far.”
Abimbola Johnson, chair of the ISOB, which exists to provide external scrutiny of the action plan, said while there have been improvements since the beginning of this year – government responsibility will bring greater accountability.
“We want the government to take responsibility for the plan to ensure sustainable funding, proper accountability, and to develop a comprehensive long-term strategy making policing better for Black communities,” he said.
“A forward-thinking roadmap, developed in partnership with policymakers and anti-racism experts, will improve the consistently low levels of trust we see in Black people in policing. Delivering on the overall aims that inspired the creation of the plan and achieving an adequately funded strategy will provide the action needed to create change.”
Dr Alison Heydari, the action plan’s programme director, said they had made “huge strides” in recent months and work is already underway to address the report’s key recommendations.
She added: “In the coming weeks we will publish a progress report outlining our work to date, as well as efforts we have made to engage and consult with Black communities across the country.
“A new reiteration of the plan is due to be published in the autumn too, which will put the plan on a long-term footing and embed its work in the DNA of policing.”
Gavin Stephens, the chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council who leads the race action plan, said the ISOB “has acknowledged that improvements have been made in the plan’s delivery since the turn of the year and I am determined to help support the programme in continuing its progress to deliver tangible long-term change”.
