Trevor Phillips, Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality, today announced his intention to commence enforcement action against 14 police forces and 8 police authorities. This follows the publication of interim findings of the CRE's formal investigation into the Police Service of England and Wales. The investigation found that more than 90 per cent of police race equality schemes examined by the CRE failed to meet minimum legal requirements. Only one of the 15 police force schemes was fully compliant with the Race Relations Act.

Trevor Phillips said this situation was unacceptable: "Sir David Calvert-Smith has made it clear that he expects us to act immediately on his preliminary findings. I do not intend to disappoint.

"The most serious of his findings so far is the discovery that all but one of the race equality schemes that he and his team have investigated breaches the law. This is profoundly disappointing. It is also unacceptable. If you are a law enforcement agency, the best place to start is to obey the law yourself. This is clearly not happening.

"I should make it clear that these schemes are not just formal, bureaucratic devices. They perform a practical purpose. The Race Equality Scheme should ensure that every decision maker in an organisation understands how to meet the demands of race equality.

"In organisations where this is not the case we see unnecessary and expensive legal actions, in most cases leading to a waste of public money. For example, in recent days we have seen tribunal awards running into hundreds of thousands of pounds, costs which might have been averted had the organisations concerned had a functioning race equality scheme. In this report, proper marshalling of data would have revealed problems in the screening process that should already have been addressed.

"I cannot, for legal reasons, name the forces and authorities which are failing, since this might inhibit any further action we might take.

"However I can tell you that tomorrow, I will be writing to the Chief Constable of each of the 14 forces and the Chair of each of the 8 authorities concerned. They will have been told by Sir David in which areas they are failing. I will notify them that each has 21 days to reply to me explaining exactly how they intend to comply with the law; and that they will have no more than 90 days from the date of my letter to produce schemes that are lawful. The time frame may vary according to the size of the task.

"Should they fail to comply, we will take all the steps open to us. Let me be clear about this. Those steps include application to the High Court for an enforcement order. Failure to satisfy such an order will lead to sanctions against the force or authority.

"And in case anyone should doubt my determination on this matter, my fellow Commissioners and I have spent the past year ensuring that the Commission is in a secure financial position to support any such legal action through to the end."

The police forces and authorities concerned will have 21 days to respond to Trevor Phillips' letter saying that he is minded to issue a compliance notice, forcing them to comply with the law. If the CRE is not satisfied with the response, a compliance notice will be issued that can be enforced through a court order. If a police force or authority fails to comply with the order, the relevant individual (e.g. the Chief Constable) will be liable for contempt of court proceedings. Such proceedings can lead to a fine, and sometimes in the last resort imprisonment.

Click here to visit the CRE website.

Top