Strategic Equality Plan
Contents
Introduction from the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Chief Constable
1. Vision
2. Our Area and Our Organisations
2.1 What does Gwent look like?
2.2 The Role of the Police and Crime Commissioner
2.3 How do the Police operate
3. Summary Equality Plan Objectives
4. The Purpose and Legal Context
4.1 What is our current status?
4.2 Why do we need this Plan?
4.3 Who is this plan for?
4.4 Welsh Language Commitment
4.5 Communication Strategy for the Plan
4.6 Responsibility and Governance Arrangements
5. Equality Plan Objectives
Introduction from the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Chief Constable
Welcome to the second Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent and Gwent Police Joint Strategic Equality Plan for 2020-2024.
Over the last several years, policing has experienced a transformation in responding to changes in demand, increased public expectation and greater diversity in our communities. The impact of technological progress, globalisation and international terrorism has also affected our communities and the nature of crime committed. Recognising these challenges, our Joint Strategic Equality Plan builds on the progress of our previous collaboration and the alignment of our work to better support the delivery of our equality objectives.
Through the Plan, we want to challenge how we think about ourselves, our services and the way they are delivered. We aim to:
- Provide a police service that reflects the communities it serves;
- Foster an organisational culture that demonstrates the importance of equality and inclusivity; and
- Deliver a high-quality service that Gwent’s diverse communities are confident to use and engage with.
The police service polices by consent. To continue to do so we must gain the trust and confidence of our communities through transparent, fair and ethical application of the law, and continuous engagement with all our citizens by a workforce that reflects local communities. This document outlines our continued commitment to ensuring that our organisations act with respect for equality, diversity and human rights, address inequality and challenge discrimination within everything that we do.
International events have shone a spotlight on the relationship between policing and race, and the Black Lives Matter movement has reinforced the need for services to do more to tackle issues of disproportionality wherever they occur. Reports such as the Lammy Review and the UK Government’s Race Disparity Audit both evidenced racial inequalities across the public sector. Similarly, the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s report Being Disabled in Britain, and publications from Stonewall, such as LGBT in Britain: Hate Crime and Discrimination further highlight disparity impacting on specific groups. The disproportionate impact of Coronavirus on our ethnic minority communities has further highlighted issues of “embedded racism” and the need to act now to eliminate institutional discrimination [1]. Our SEP recognises that we have these significant challenges to address, as well as our responsibility to effectively deliver a service that addresses all inequality and promotes equity across all the protected characteristics.
We acknowledge that policing can create disparity, but it also needs to manage the consequences of disparity within other public services, such as those experienced in the wider criminal justice process. Events and reports such as these make it clear that we cannot do this alone and must take a joined-up approach with our communities, partners and our officers and staff in order to be successful.
Whilst the Strategic Equality Plan provides a framework that supports our delivery of the changes needed to best serve our communities, it is equally about how we recruit, train, manage, retain, develop and progress our officers and staff. It is also important that as far as we are able, we ensure that our workforce visibly reflects the communities we serve, increasing public confidence in our understanding of our citizens’ needs and expectations.
In its response to the Home Affairs Select Committee report on diversity in policing, the UK Government restated its view that a diverse workforce representing the communities served goes right to the core of the British principle of policing by consent. This enhances the level of skill and talent of our workforce and assists in improving our understanding of all communities and our ability to tackle the crimes affecting them.
During 2019/20, we welcomed 59 new recruits to Gwent Police, 24 of whom were part of the UK Government’s Operation Uplift recruitment drive. Recruitment processes are supported by the Positive Action Outreach Officers who actively engage with our under-represented communities, promoting career opportunities and providing information on the support available. In this way, we hope to increase the diversity of successful applicants into policing roles in Gwent and provide greater support and opportunities for the retention and promotion of individuals within the existing workforce.
The priorities set out in our Strategic Equality Plan are now more important than ever. They will help to drive necessary institutional change and contribute to improved community cohesion by identifying and tackling inequality and disproportionality within policing and the wider criminal justice process, providing an increased sense of inclusion across the police service. They will also help us to prepare for the introduction of the socio-economic duty in Wales in March 2021.
We would like to thank the public, our partners and our officers and staff who have contributed to the development of this Plan and we look forward to seeing the difference we make as we deliver our shared goals.
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Jeff Cuthbert |
Pam Kelly |
[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-53539577
1. Vision
Our Strategic Equality Plan 2020-24 has been developed around fundamental principles that will help us to achieve our objectives. We want to:
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Provide a police service that reflects the communities it serves |
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Foster an organisational culture that demonstrates the importance of equality and inclusivity |
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Deliver a high-quality service that Gwent’s diverse communities are confident to use and engage with |
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2. Our Area and Our Organisations
2.1 What does Gwent look like?
Gwent has a total population of 583,500 people living within five local authorities; Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Torfaen and Newport.
Gwent covers 155,542 square km and its population has increased by 2% over the last 10 years. The county is economically and culturally diverse, with areas of both affluence and deprivation. 12% of Gwent is defined as “most deprived” [1].
Socio-economically disadvantaged communities present additional policing challenges. They may be more vulnerable to crime, particularly where poverty intersects with characteristics such as race and disability.
In Gwent, we have an ethnic minority population of around 5.2%, rising to around 12.5% in Newport. Newport has the highest proportion of people from a non-White British background in Wales, second only to Cardiff.
- Religion (Gwent) [2]
49.6% Christian
47.1% No religion
2.3% Muslim
2.8% Other Religion
- Sexual orientation (UK) [3]
Estimated population of people that identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual is 5%
- Disability (Gwent) [4]
82,000 people of working age
- Race/Ethnicity (Gwent) [5]
94.5% White
Around 5.5% Ethnic Minority
- Welsh Language (Gwent)
Speak, read and write:
Gwent 9.6%
Wales 16.3%
[1] https://gov.wales/welsh-index-multiple-deprivation-full-index-update-ranks-2019
[2] https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Equality-and-Diversity/Religion/religion-by-region
[4] https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Equality-and-Diversity/Disability
[5] https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Equality-and-Diversity/Ethnicity/ethnicity-by-area-
2.2 The Role of the Police and Crime Commissioner
The Commissioner, together with the Chief Constable, is responsible for policing in Gwent. The Commissioner ensures that Gwent Police is efficient and effective and seeks to improve the performance and standards of the local policing services delivered to communities. Part of the Commissioner’s role is to make sure local people have a say in how their area is policed and to hold the Chief Constable to account for the delivery of these services.
The Commissioner has eight statutory responsibilities which are listed on the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) website:
https://www.gwent.pcc.police.uk/en/about-us/my-responsibilities/.
The key responsibility underpinning our Strategic Equality Plan is supporting and enabling the Commissioner in:
“…holding the Chief Constable to account for the performance of the Force’s officers and staff, including any duties relating to equality and diversity”
The OPCC supports the Commissioner in carrying out this duty by scrutinising and monitoring Gwent Police’s equality activities through representation on the People and Diversity Board and on each of the Force’s meetings and forums, as well as at the Commissioner’s public-facing Strategy and Performance Board.
All the objectives in the Strategic Equality Plan reflect the core values and priorities of the Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan for Gwent:
https://www.gwent.pcc.police.uk/en/transparency/publications/police-and-crime-plan/.
Police and Crime Priorities
- Priority 1: Keep Neighbourhoods Safe
- Priority 2: Combat Serious Crime
- Priority 3: Support Victims and Protect the Vulnerable
- Priority 4: Increase Community Confidence in Policing
- Priority 5: Drive Sustainable Policing
Gwent Police’s performance against the Police and Crime Plan priorities is achieved through the Police and Crime Delivery Plan set by the Chief Constable.
In addition to these established governance arrangements, the joint Plan means that the way in which the OPCC monitors and scrutinises Gwent Police’s equality performance can be more closely linked to the Force’s objectives, particularly in response to matters of disproportionality and the impacts on specific communities.
The Police and Justice Act 2006 provides an extended duty for the OPCC to:
- Promote diversity within the OPCC and the Police force
- Monitor Force performance in complying with the Human Rights Act
2.3 How do the Police operate?
Gwent Police’s Structure
Gwent Police has two Local Policing Areas – East, which covers the local authority areas of Newport and Monmouthshire, and West, which incorporates Caerphilly, Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent. Gwent Police has an establishment of 1335 officers, 727 staff and 122 Community Support Officers (CSOs) (correct as of 31/03/20).
Our workforce is 10.3% larger than in 2016. During 2019/20, Gwent Police dealt with 181,170 incidents and 57,282 crimes.
Gwent Police can be split into the following service areas. Each has been involved in the development of our Plan and is responsible for various aspects of its delivery.
- Neighbourhood Policing and Partnership – includes neighbourhood policing, response policing and the investigation of volume crime.
- Crime Investigation – includes public protection, serious and organised crime, intelligence and major incidents.
- Operational Support – includes the Force Communications Suite.
- Criminal Justice - including Custody and information services.
- Continuous Improvement – includes Business Change, Service Improvement, Diversity and Inclusion, and Governance.
- Business Support – includes Information and Communications Technology (ICT), People Services, Fleet, Estates and Finance.
A summary of our current employment profile can be found here: http://www.gwent.police.uk/informationpoint/equality-and-diversity/equality-information/employment-equality-data/.
Gwent Police’s Values
Our commitment to equality is also reflected in Gwent Police’s five core values which act as a central pillar to everything we do. We strive to:
- Be compassionate;
- Be courageous;
- Be proud;
- Be positive;
- Keep learning.
In addition to our core values, Gwent Police also expects all officers and staff to abide by the national Code of Ethics and:
- Uphold the law regarding human rights and equality
- Treat all people fairly and with respect
- Treat people impartially
Gwent Police aspires to be an “Employer of Choice”, an organisation that people choose to work for because of the way that we support, value and encourage them.
3. Summary Equality Plan Objectives
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Objective 1 |
Supporting Vulnerable People: To investigate and achieve justice for crimes with the greatest impact on vulnerable people, ensuring effective support for victims. |
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Objective 2 |
Legitimacy and Fairness: To ensure that Gwent Police and the OPCC carry out their activities in a way that is proportionate and non-discriminatory and fosters positive relations between communities and policing. |
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Objective 3 |
Access, Engagement and Inclusion: To ensure that the services delivered by the Gwent Police and the OPCC respond to the views, experiences, and needs of people that identify with protected characteristics, and that the work we do promotes inclusion and cohesion. |
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Objective 4 |
Creating an Inclusive Workforce and Promoting Fairness: Work towards a representative workforce and an inclusive workplace culture, and ensure that everyone working for Gwent Police and the OPCC are treated fairly and without discrimination |
4. The Purpose and Legal Context
4.1 What is our current status?
We are moving on from our Strategic Equality Plan 2016-2020 which saw a number of successes during its lifetime. However, as is the case for any long-term plan, new priorities and issues have emerged in the past four years. The new Joint Strategic Equality Plan 2020-24 picks up from where the previous plan ended. It recognises and addresses these new priorities, while continuing to deal with the issues that remain with us.
Our Equality Annual Reports for 2019-20 help to review and provide an understanding of where we were at the end of the previous Plan and its objectives. This review represents a baseline for how our future objectives will be benchmarked and success measured. They also provide an overview of what went well during the last four years, what did not go well, some highlights of our achievements and recommendations for future plans that have been incorporated into the creation of our new Plan.
Our Annual Reports are published on our websites:
Gwent Police: http://corporate.gwent.police.uk/informationpoint/equality-and-diversity/.
4.2 Why do we need this Plan?
We have produced this plan to help us set out and justify our Strategic Equality Plan objectives and to explain how we will achieve them and who will benefit.
The Equality Act 2010 promotes equality for the following protected characteristics:
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Age |
Disability |
Gender Reassignment |
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Marriage and Civil Partnership |
Pregnancy and Maternity |
Race |
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Religion and Belief |
Sex |
Sexual Orientation |
There are three aims of the Public Sector Equality Duty to which both the OPCC and Gwent Police must have due regard to:
- Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act.
- Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
- Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
To meet these aims, equality plan objectives have been set for every protected characteristic. Our objectives are outcome-focused, with clear, specific improvements to benefit our staff and our communities. We have outlined objectives on a four-year basis aligned to specific improvements and outcomes as set out in our Delivery Plans. In doing so, we aim to meet both our legal compliance requirements and support the vision, values and key principles within the Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan.
The OPCC and Gwent Police have created separate but linked Delivery Plans according to our respective roles and responsibilities. Our Delivery Plans are dynamic documents that will continue to grow and change as our goals are achieved and new challenges are identified. They will be kept under review during the lifetime of our Strategic Equality Plan and will provide a basis for further development and progress reporting.
On March 31st, 2021, the socio-economic duty comes into force in Wales. This means that, when making strategic decisions, we will need to consider how we can reduce inequalities associated with socio-economic disadvantage. Our objectives include outcomes relating to the new duty and will support our compliance with the requirements of the duty.
In setting the objectives, the following were considered:
- Feedback from our equality objectives consultation process;
- Equality issues raised by staff and our communities;
- Evidence indicating under-representation or unequal outcomes, including from Equality Impact Assessments;
- Objectives that could remove barriers, promote equality, promote good relations or improve performance;
- Analysis of national research, information and reports from bodies such as the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the Audit Wales (AW), the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), as well as Welsh Government (this list is not exhaustive);
- Due regard and consideration of the National Police Chiefs’ Council Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Strategy which has three key elements of Our Organisation, Our Communities, and Our Partners that enable success centred on the personal leadership of all Chief Constables and their chief officer teams.
Appendix A provides a summary of the evidence reviewed and engagement undertaken to support the development of this Plan. Our Plan is informed by consultation with the wider public and staff within both the OPCC and Gwent Police. A full Consultation Engagement Report has been produced and published on our websites to accompany this document.
The Plan will be reviewed every year in reports monitoring OPCC and Gwent Police progress against actions. The overarching objectives will be reviewed every four years.
4.3 Who is this plan for?
Our Strategic Equality Plan applies to both our employees and members of our communities that share protected characteristics.
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Our staff As we create a more inclusive culture, staff will trust our organisations to treat them fairly. This will help us to attract and retain a more diverse workforce |
By actively embedding and promoting the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion throughout the OPCC and Gwent Police, staff will be more informed about the issues and barriers that different groups face, helping to increase understanding of others’ perspectives. This will enable us to create a more inclusive culture in which diversity is valued and the needs of different groups are supported. It will also foster a sense of belonging across all groups within the OPCC and Gwent Police and encourage a cohesive and collaborative environment. |
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Our leaders Effective and transparent leadership that sets the standard for our organisations will support our staff to successfully deliver on the objectives in our Plan. This will also help to demonstrate to our communities our leaders’ commitment to bring about the changes necessary for us to progress as diverse and inclusive organisations |
Effective leadership that sets the strategic direction and vision in tackling inequality and ensures appropriate resourcing and support for our services is key to the successful delivery of our Plan. Acting as role models for our staff, our leaders will demonstrate their commitment to positive change though their words and their actions. Proactive support for an inclusive workplace culture will empower staff to challenge inequality and promote a supportive and cohesive environment. Evidencing how well our leaders understand and tackle persistent issues of disproportionality will provide public reassurance of their commitment to positive change, both for our organisations and our diverse communities. |
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Our communities In serving our communities responsively, fairly and inclusively, we will cultivate trust and confidence in local policing services. This will foster positive relationships with our communities |
Demonstrating how we are improving equality, diversity and inclusion within our organisations and partnerships, and openly challenging inequality and discrimination in the delivery of our services will enable communities to develop greater trust and confidence in our processes and practices. This will support better engagement and improved relationships between us and our communities, and advance equality of opportunity for people accessing our services. |
4.4 Welsh Language Commitment
Under their respective Welsh Language Standards, the Commissioner and Chief Constable have set out a joint commitment to working towards delivering a bilingual policing service for the communities of Gwent. The Joint Welsh Language Strategy contains four key pledges:
- Engage effectively with Welsh speakers in order to shape the service we provide
- Increase the number of Welsh speakers and learners that we employ across both organisations
- Collect data that we can use to improve the quality of our Welsh language services.
Compliance with the Standards and progress against the pledges is reported separately; however, Welsh language is included within our Equality Impact Assessment processes and Equality Delivery Plans to ensure that consideration is given to advancing equality of opportunity and promoting use of Welsh as part of our daily business.
4.5 Communication Strategy for the Plan
The Plan is our open commitment to equality, and central to its success is effective communication to staff and our communities. External communication and engagement arrangements will be supported by the OPCC Communication and Engagement Team and Gwent Police’s Corporate Communications Department as well as other departments and teams as appropriate.
Initial plans are in place to promote the Strategic Equality Plan to all staff across both organisations This will help to ensure that everyone is aware of their responsibilities under the Plan and has opportunity to support and guide our activities during the four-year period.
4.6 Responsibility and Governance Arrangements
This Plan is approved by the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Chief Constable of Gwent Police. At an executive level, strategic leadership lies with the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner and the Deputy Chief Constable of Gwent Police.
Gwent Police will monitor progress of its Equality Delivery Plan at the People Strategy Board, which is chaired by the Deputy Chief Constable, and the relevant workstream meetings. The Board has representation from Gwent Police’s Independent Advisory Group, Staff Associations, Work stream Leads and the OPCC. The Board ensures delivery of the Equality Objectives, allowing the OPCC to monitor Gwent Police’s progress against the Plan, enabling discussion of any additional matters that relate to equality and diversity.
The OPCC will monitor the progress of its own Delivery Plan through its Management Board, chaired by the Commissioner. This will enable progress to be actively reviewed by leadership and management and support achievement of the success measures and outcomes identified in the Delivery Plan. Progress will also be highlighted to the Police and Crime Panel, as appropriate, to enable their feedback to the Commissioner on the outcomes and rate of progress, contributing to the success of the work to achieve the objectives.
We will enhance our governance structures and assurance processes to support adherence to legal, ethical and professional standards and demonstrate openness and transparency in our accountability processes. We will work to increase opportunities for external challenge and accountability to complement the role of the Independent Advisory Group (IAG).
We will embed equality, diversity and inclusion in our policy creation, reporting mechanisms and decision-making processes. To help us to demonstrate how we are working towards achieving the aims of the Equality Duty and the OPCC and Gwent Police’s shared vision and objectives for equality, diversity and inclusion, we will:
- Publish annual equality information relating to the protected characteristics of our employees and the protected characteristics of people affected by our policies and practices;
- In consultation with our staff and communities, set equality objectives;
- Publish a Strategic Equality Plan every four years that sets out how we intend to meet our equality objectives;
- Publish annual updates on our progress against the Plan;
- Assess the impact of our proposed policies and practices by continuing to use our Equality Impact Assessment processes.
- Engage with people who share protected characteristics regarding how decisions, policies and interventions have an impact on them individually or in the community; and
- Consider how equality considerations are relevant and proportionate in our procurement processes.
5. Equality Plan Objectives
This section provides a summary overview of the key actions we will undertake to achieve our objectives.
Objective 1
Supporting Vulnerable People: To investigate and achieve justice for crimes with the greatest impact on vulnerable people, ensuring effective support for victims.
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To achieve this objective, we need to |
Timeline |
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Increase the levels of reporting of crimes and incidents affecting vulnerable people, and particularly those in under-represented groups. |
Early phase work Establish benchmarking to build a thorough understanding of reporting trends. Work with partners and communities to raise awareness of crimes and reporting pathways and establish where there are challenges.
Medium term goals Outputs from the early phase work will inform development of better and earlier identification of vulnerable and at-risk individuals, Build on work with partnerships to provide improved safeguarding interventions and support for vulnerable victims.
Long term goals Effective delivery and oversight of delivery of the Vulnerability Strategy to ensure the outcome of engagement with vulnerable and under-represented victims promotes confidence and increased satisfaction with the service received. Victims from under-represented groups feel more confident to engage with services and an increase in people reporting their experiences is recorded. |
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Develop effective monitoring and scrutiny arrangements regarding recording and investigation of crimes affecting vulnerable people. |
Early phase work Review existing monitoring and governance arrangements to determine how and where outcomes are scrutinised and the extent of protected characteristic monitoring. Engage with strategic leads and governance processes to develop monitoring improvement plans.
Medium term goals Implement plans to improve monitoring practices and review the effectiveness of scrutiny arrangements to ensure that any remaining gaps are identified and addressed.
Long term goals Effective monitoring and reporting arrangements are embedded within governance processes. Greater scrutiny across the protected characteristics to inform work regarding more effective intervention and prevention. |
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Maximise opportunities to increase the rate of positive outcomes for victims through effective police investigation and wider criminal justice partnership arrangements. |
Early phase work Establish benchmarking and improve monitoring and scrutiny to build a thorough understanding of outcome trends. Work with criminal justice and other partners to identify where there are challenges and agree actions required to drive improvements
Medium term goals Outputs from the early phase work will inform work to ensure improved access to effective criminal justice processes and improved outcomes for victims. This will also support enhanced scrutiny of activities and outputs and contribute to continuous improvement processes.
Long term goals Positive outcome rates for criminal justice processes are increased with consistent reductions in repeat offences being committed by the same individuals. Victims have greater confidence to report their experiences and make earlier contact with the police. A greater number of victims report increased satisfaction in with their criminal justice experience. |
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Consistently deliver high quality and sustainable interventions and support services for victims and those at risk. |
Early phase work Establish benchmarking and improve monitoring and scrutiny to build a thorough understanding of outcome trends and demographics of victims. Work with service providers and partners to agree and implement any improvements to scrutiny, providing appropriate gap analysis and support for planning. Work with partners to review funding arrangements and consider the sustainability of funding to ensure effective services for all victims.
Medium term goals Outputs from the early phase work will inform the development of additional early intervention and prevention programmes that maximise partnership working and effective funding streams.
Long term goals Effective partnership working provides sustainable and appropriately funded opportunities for early intervention and prevention. Victims and those at risk are identified and engaged with at the earliest opportunity to minimise the long-term impacts of their experiences. |
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Maximise opportunities to identify improved mental health and wellbeing as an outcome from early intervention and prevention work. |
Early phase work Review existing monitoring arrangements and establish benchmarking to determine the effectiveness of current processes and services across protected characteristics. Review existing partnership engagement to ensure that opportunities to influence and contribute to the mental health agenda are effective.
Medium term goals Build on the outputs of the early phase work to develop and implement improvement plans, including for monitoring and scrutiny.
Long term goals Effective early intervention reduces the longer-term impacts on individuals and front-line policing services. Individuals experiencing mental health crisis consistently report improved satisfaction with the support received. |
Objective 2
Legitimacy and Fairness: To ensure that Gwent Police and the OPCC carry out their activities in a way that is proportionate and non-discriminatory and fosters positive relations between communities and policing
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To achieve this objective, we need to |
Timeline |
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Be transparent and provide reassurance around the use of police powers, including stop and search, use of force, police custody, and complaints. |
Early phase work Review current performance and governance and scrutiny arrangements to ensure that the current position within Gwent is understood. Identify the improvements required and ensure effective arrangements are in place to manage change and provide challenge where appropriate. Ensure that plans for public communication are in place to support transparency.
Medium term goals Outputs from the early phase work will inform policy and process changes and ongoing scrutiny requirements. Communications plans will support ongoing staff and community awareness on the outcomes and outputs of related work. Develop effective monitoring and scrutiny arrangements for complaints, including those linked to discrimination, to provide effective police accountability processes.
Long term goals To be in a position where processes enable disproportionality to be quickly identified, effectively scrutinised and successfully reduced where possible. Effective application and monitoring means that custody detentions for children and people experiencing mental health crisis are used only when absolutely necessary. |
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Engage with our communities, and particularly our youth and ethnic minority communities, to build trust and confidence regarding the use of police powers and citizens’ rights. |
Early phase work Build on previous engagement work to develop more open and engaging relationships with youth and ethnic minority communities and groups. Work with partners to identify opportunities to enhance existing engagement processes.
Medium term goals Develop specific and longer-term communication and engagement plans regarding the use of police powers in Gwent.
Long term goals Communities have an improved understanding and confidence in our use of police powers. Evaluation of the engagement work to assess the impact and outcomes for our youth and ethnic minority communities. |
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Make effective use of alternative disposals to reduce the number of first-time entrants into the criminal justice system, in particular for children and people from ethnic minority backgrounds. |
Early phase work Establish benchmarking and scrutiny arrangements to build a thorough understanding of outcome trends and demographics for those receiving alternative disposals, including diversion from police custody.
Medium term goals Outputs from the early phase work will inform the development of additional early intervention and prevention programmes that maximise partnership working and effective funding streams.
Long term goals Increased, proportionate and effective use of Out of Court Disposals and diversion opportunities is evidenced. Partners report a reduction in the number of first-time entrants into the youth criminal justice system. |
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Ensure that the Organisational Performance Framework effectively records information relating to protected characteristics, providing reassurance of effective and inclusive services and activities. |
Early phase work Review benchmarking and data provision against the protected characteristics. Provide feedback regarding gaps and required information and agree appropriate activity to address disparities.
Medium term goals Establish effective arrangements that consistently capture data for protected characteristics to identify where there is under-representation and support work to address it.
Long term goals To be in a position where performance and outcomes are informed by reliable, detailed and relevant equality data. |
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Ensure that decision-making processes, including for vetting, are fair, transparent and evidence-based, and consider the impact of their outcomes. |
Early phase work Review the current usage of Equality Impact and other assessment methods to determine effectiveness. Embed the recently established vetting review process to ensure that decisions are fair and effective and enable an appropriate challenge to decisions while providing reassurance on the effectiveness of the vetting process.
Medium term goals Outputs from the early phase work will inform any required equality training or changes to assessment processes linked to decision-making.
Long term goals The OPCC and Gwent Police demonstrate an understanding of the impacts on individuals with protected characteristics. All decisions made are evidence-based, transparent and non-discriminatory. Communities and staff have confidence that decision-making processes are fair and proportionate. |
Objective 3
Access, Engagement and Cohesion: To ensure that the services delivered by Gwent Police and the OPCC respond to the views, experiences and needs of people that identify with protected characteristics, and that the work we do promotes inclusion and cohesion.
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To achieve this objective, we need to |
Timeline |
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Ensure that the public can access our services, either in person or through other methods, and that we provide police premises that are physically accessible. |
Early phase work Establish a better understanding of the barriers and challenges for people in accessing services or participating in local policing. Review the PCC’s Estate Strategy to determine how it enables physical access to police premises and complies with the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 to benefit both the public and staff.
Medium term goals Outputs from the early phase work will inform development of accessibility improvement plans and audits across our services and our estate. Develop further training for officers and staff to understand the barriers faced by our diverse communities in accessing and participating in local policing.
Long term goals Effective delivery of the PCC’s Estate Strategy that promotes inclusion to provide police premises that are physically accessible. Citizens of Gwent feel confident and able to access policing services and premises and are aware of the provisions available. Officers and staff feel capable to develop meaningful relationships with our diverse communities, increase their confidence to report their experiences and participate in local policing services. |
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Build relations with marginalised and under-represented communities to build trust and confidence in our policing services. |
Early phase work Develop work with partners to better understand local approaches to Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. Build on existing work to further develop proactive and inclusive engagement with our faith and ethnic minority communities.
Medium term goals Outputs from the early phase work will inform partnership approaches to develop more effective engagement.
Long term goals Our policing services demonstrate that we understand the needs of our diverse communities. Partnership work facilitates more effective opportunities to access and engage with and support the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community. Minority communities have greater confidence to access policing services. |
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Ensure early identification of and response to community tensions and work with partner agencies to promote and strengthen community cohesion, inclusion and integration. |
Early phase work Review existing work with partners to identify where reporting and monitoring arrangements are in place.
Medium term goals Outputs from the early phase work will enable us to build on these relationships to further develop our understanding of where community tensions exist or are at risk of occurring.
Long term goals Effective partnership working provides opportunities to implement plans and activities that address community tensions and support cohesion and inclusion. |
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Engage with communities to understand their views regarding policing services and treatment to inform our strategic processes and policy development. |
Early phase work Review and evaluate existing engagement approaches to identify where under-representation exists.
Medium term goals Outputs from early phase work will support further development of our engagement approaches informed by the Joint Engagement and Communications Strategy. This will ensure our approaches and engagement plans are inclusive of and accessible to all protected characteristics. To see increased engagement amongst minority communities and those with under-represented protected characteristics.
Long term goals To see clear changes in the outcomes of our engagement activity that informs the development and review of our policy development and strategic processes. Communities see and feel the changes implemented as a result of their engagement and feedback. |
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Promote and embed the principle that when children and young people are engaged with or by our services, they are treated according to their age. |
Early phase work Re-establish earlier work to develop a child-centred approach for policing in Gwent.
Medium term goals Early phase work will inform further work and outputs required to support the development of an overarching child-first strategy.
Long term goals Implementation of a child-centred strategy for Gwent that ensures all aspects of strategic and operational work demonstrate an understanding of the requirements for success. Children and young people feel more confident to engage with policing and support services. Criminal justice processes and arrangements recognise and deliver appropriate interventions and support to ensure that children and young people receive treated according to their age. |
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Work with partners to maintain and improve approaches to the Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat. |
Early phase work Benchmark existing work with partners to understand the impact of current provisions for people experiencing mental health crisis.
Medium term goals Early phase work will inform where current mental health provisions require improvement and will support development of further initiatives across policing.
Long term goals Through effective partnership work, we will identify and act on opportunities to sustain and further develop collaborative mental health services. People experiencing mental health crisis report feeling supported and treated according to their needs. |
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Implement and support the new IAG and Community Cohesion Groups structure to maximise community relations and enable a wider external challenge to our work. |
Early phase work Finalise the new structure and action plan and embed both within the IAG. Initiate recruitment processes as per the restructure plans. Develop plans to create Community Cohesion Groups to widen community involvement in scrutiny and engagement processes.
Medium term goals Members receive regular information sessions to develop their knowledge and effectiveness in participation. Gwent Police and the OPCC will work to maximise engagement and participation across our activities by IAG members, aligned to the IAG Action Plan.
Long term goals IAG members form part of our scrutiny processes, providing external support and challenge from a community perspective. Feedback from the Community Cohesion Groups forms is embedded within our community engagement processes and forms part of a strong, three-tiered and effective IAG structure. |
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Ensure victim services consider and, when appropriate, actively support the needs of people with protected characteristics. |
Early phase work Work to understand the barriers for under-represented victims to accessing victim services. Work with commissioned services and commissioning processes to identify and implement where improvement is needed.
Medium term goals Early stage work will identify further activities required to develop inclusive mainstream services and, where required, specific services for individuals identifying with particular protected characteristics.
Long term goals Commissioned services demonstrate effective engagement with individuals across the protected characteristics. Connect Gwent is effectively supported to provide all victims of crime with access to appropriate support, according to individual need. Victims from under-represented groups are consistently satisfied with the service and support received. |
Objective 4
Creating an Inclusive Workforce and Promoting Fairness: Work towards a representative workforce and an inclusive workplace culture and ensure that everyone working for Gwent Police and the OPCC are treated fairly and without discrimination.
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To achieve this objective, we need to |
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Develop and embed effective approaches to increasing workforce diversity, including the retention and progression of existing staff from under-represented groups. |
Early phase work Establish effective benchmarking and improved monitoring and scrutiny for Gwent Police’s Representative Workforce Strategy and recruitment and promotion processes. Identify barriers in working for the OPCC and Gwent Police across all protected characteristics to inform changes to our recruitment and information approaches. Ensure organisational diversity data is published to demonstrate transparency in our processes and improvements in representation.
Medium term goals Embed revised approaches to provide effective scrutiny and application of processes. Review the existing workforce representation commitments within Police and Crime Plan planning alongside the Representative Workforce Strategy to ensure the key drivers are considered and reflected appropriately.
Long term goals A more balanced workforce throughout the rank structure that represents the population of Gwent across all protected characteristics. Effective delivery and oversight of delivery of the Representative Workforce Strategy. |
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Consider how equality can be embedded into independent member and volunteer recruitment, including for people from socio-economically disadvantaged communities. |
Early phase work Develop an understanding of the current diversity of our volunteers and independent members and where existing programmes promote equality and inclusion.
Medium term goals Early phase work will identify under-representation and support plans to increase inclusion. Active engagement and communication with communities will help to raise awareness of volunteering roles and opportunities across both organisations.
Long term goals The diversity of applicants for volunteer and independent member roles is increased supporting more inclusive recruitment across the protected characteristics. Volunteer programmes and independent members are more representative of our diverse communities. |
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Build on our commitments to equal pay, treatment and opportunity across our organisations to ensure everyone feels treated fairly. |
Early phase work Ensure Gwent Police’s existing pay gap review processes are effective and provide robust data to identify and support improvements. Initiate work to review the OPCC’s gender pay performance to provide a benchmark for the organisation. Commence work with Chwarae Teg regarding fairness in the workplace and promote staff engagement with processes. Ensure scrutiny processes for complaints, particularly relating to bullying, harassment, and/or sexual misconduct are robust and transparent and identify any disproportionality issues across the data.
Medium term goals Outputs from the early phase work will inform the development and implementation of improvement plans. Review the commitments within the HeForShe action plans to ensure that our commitments are reflective of where we want to be organisationally.
Long term goals Our organisations are seen as employers of choice that promote equality and fairness and value their workforce. Equal pay gap reporting provides evidence of where we have actively reduced any disparity within our organisations. Misconduct investigations demonstrate an improvement in any disparity across the protected characteristics. |
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Consider how our approaches to mental health and physical wellbeing contribute to improved welfare and performance. |
Early phase work Establish effective benchmarking of organisational sickness absence data and monitoring of the impact of internal mental health and wellbeing initiatives available to officers and staff. Ensure effective engagement and communication in promoting access to mental health and wellbeing initiatives across our organisations.
Medium term goals Early phase work will identify where improvements are required and support plans to address gaps. Effective scrutiny of sickness absence and feedback from staff affected will support improvement work.
Long term goals Staff report feeling empowered to access support and workplace initiatives for health and wellbeing. An informed workforce that fosters a supportive workplace culture towards mental and other health conditions that may affect individuals within our organisations. Sickness absence relating to mental health is reduced due to effective early identification and support. |
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Embed efficient processes that provide effective staff engagement to obtain honest feedback about their experiences while working for our organisations.
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Early phase work Assess the effectiveness of exit interviews to determine where improvements to processes or employee experiences could be made. In conjunction with the Representative Workforce Strategy, ensure that staff are aware of the reasons for recording data relating to protected characteristics to provide encouragement, reassurance and confidence to individuals when providing their information. Ensure staff survey processes enable results that can be effectively interpreted and used to inform improvement plans.
Medium term goals Building on the early stage work, embed work to promote engagement between staff with protected characteristics and supervisors regarding any support requirements. Ensure that supervision meetings, 1:1s, or PDR reviews provide opportunity for staff to discuss any matters of concern and promote confidence to do so.
Long term goals Officers and staff report fair treatment across our organisations and feel valued as employees. Individuals from under-represented groups feel encouraged and supported to remain and/or progress within our organisations. |
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Ensure staff training and development creates and sustains a capable, effective, engaged and informed workforce |
Early phase work Review the provision of workforce learning, including the impact of PEQF, to determine the extent and quality of equality and diversity training. Ensure policy and decision-making processes effectively assess the impacts of activities across the protected characteristics.
Medium term goals Outputs from the early phase work will inform improvement plans regarding the content and quality of training provided across our organisations.
Long term goals An informed, effective and engaged workforce. An inclusive workplace culture supported by individuals that feel confident to challenge discrimination and tackle inequality where they find it. |
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2020-2024 |
Protected Characteristics |
Equality Duties |
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Age |
Disability |
Gender Reassignment |
Religion and Belief |
Sex |
Race |
Sexual Orientation |
Pregnancy and Maternity |
Marriage or Civil Partnership |
Eliminate unlawful discrimination |
Advance equality of opportunity |
Foster good relations |
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Objective 1: Supporting Vulnerable People. To investigate and achieve justice for crimes with the greatest impact on vulnerable people, ensuring effective support for victims. |
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Increase the levels of reporting of crimes and incidents affecting vulnerable people, and particularly those in under-represented groups |
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Develop effective monitoring and scrutiny arrangements regarding recording and investigation of crimes affecting vulnerable people |
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Maximise opportunities to increase the rate of positive outcomes for victims through effective police investigation and wider criminal justice partnership arrangements |
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Consistently deliver high quality and sustainable interventions and support services for victims and those at risk |
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Maximise opportunities to identify improved mental health and wellbeing as an outcome from early intervention and prevention work |
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Objective 2: Legitimacy and Fairness. To ensure that Gwent Police and the OPCC carry out their activities in a way that is proportionate and non-discriminatory and fosters positive relations between communities and policing. |
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Br transparent and provide reassurance around the use of police powers, including stop and search, use of force, police custody and complaints |
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Engage with our communities, and particular our youth and ethnic minority communities, to build trust and confidence regarding the use of police powers and citizens’ rights |
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Make effective use of alternative disposals to reduce the number of first-time entrants into the criminal justice system, in particular for children and people from ethnic minority backgrounds |
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Ensure that the Organisational Performance Framework effectively records information relating to protected characteristics, providing reassurance of effective and inclusive services and activities |
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Ensure that decision-making processes, including for vetting, are fair, transparent and evidence-based, and consider the impact of their outcomes |
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Objective 3: Access, Engagement and Cohesion. To ensure that the services delivered by Gwent Police and the OPCC respond to the views, experiences and needs of people that identify with protected characteristics, and that the work we do promotes inclusion and cohesion. |
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Ensure that the public can access our services, in person or through other methods and that we provide police premises that are physically accessible |
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Build relations with marginalised and under-represented communities to build trust and confidence in our policing services |
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Ensure early identification of and response to community tensions and work with partner agencies to promote and strengthen community cohesion, inclusion and integration |
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Engage with our communities to understand their views regarding policing services and treatment to inform our strategic processes and policy development |
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Promote and embed the principle that when children and young people are engaged with or by our services, they are treated according to their age |
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Work with partners to maintain and improve approaches to the Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat |
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Implement and support the new IAG and Community Cohesion Groups structure to maximise community relations and enable a wider external challenge to our work |
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Ensure victim services consider and, when appropriate, actively support the needs of people with protected characteristics |
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Objective 4: Creating an Inclusive Workforce and Promoting Fairness. Work towards a representative workforce and an inclusive workplace culture and ensure that everyone working for Gwent Police and the OPCC are treated fairly and without discrimination. |
||||||||||||
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Develop and embed approaches to increasing workforce diversity, including the retention and progression of existing staff from under-represented groups |
|
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
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|
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Consider how equality can be embedded into independent member and volunteer recruitment, including for people from socio-economically disadvantaged communities |
√ |
√ |
√ |
|
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|
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Build on our commitments to equal pay, treatment and opportunity across our organisations to ensure everyone feels treated fairly |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
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√ |
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Consider how our approaches to mental health and physical wellbeing contribute to improved welfare and performance |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
|
|
√ |
√ |
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Embed efficient processes that provide effective staff engagement to obtain honest feedback about their experiences while working for our organisations |
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Ensure staff training and development creates and sustains a capable, effective, engaged and informed workforce |
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