Neyroud report says greater diversity ‘would transform attitudes’ and urges qualifications to boost quality of recruits

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/apr/05/white-male-culture-dominates-police?CMP=twt_gu

The Neyroud review quotes estimates of 11 years before there is 7% of black and minority ethnic officers in senior ranks of the police.

The [...]]]>

• Alan Travis, home affairs editor
• guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 5 April 2011 20.40 BST

Neyroud report says greater diversity ‘would transform attitudes’ and urges qualifications to boost quality of recruits

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/apr/05/white-male-culture-dominates-police?CMP=twt_gu

The Neyroud review quotes estimates of 11 years before there is 7% of black and minority ethnic officers in senior ranks of the police.

The police remain dominated by an “overwhelming white male culture” that still operates on “jobs for the boys” principles, according to an official inquiry into leadership and training.

The report by a former chief constable, Peter Neyroud, commissioned by the home secretary, Theresa May, says that greater representation of women and black and minority ethnic groups at all ranks would make the most difference to the culture of police forces.

But an equality assessment for the Neyroud review cites estimates that it will take 24 years at the current rate of progress to get to even 35% female representation in the three most senior ranks.

It also quotes estimates of 11 years before there is 7%, the national average in the community, of black and minority ethnic officers in the senior ranks, and a further seven and a half years to achieve that across the whole of the police.

Neyroud’s review proposes that a new chartered professional institute of policing for the whole of the service be set up with a merged Association of Chief Police Officers as its “head and heart”. Acpo would lose the “private company” status it has had since 1998.

Neyroud, who is the former head of the National Police Improvement Agency, also suggests a pre-entry qualification before recruits register and are sworn in as a constable, to drive up the quality of policing. The home secretary is to decide on the reforms in September after a 12-week consultation.

But the equality assessment warns that this pre-entry qualification proposal could hamper the recruitment of women and black and minority ethnic groups. Neyroud argues however that it will be possible to have several routes, including a college-based route, to the entry qualification to ensure that everyone was able to qualify. “The pervading and overwhelming male culture is the main barrier that has been referred to as the single thing that prevents the workforce changing into a more diverse organisation,” says Neyroud’s equality impact assessment. “At entry level the number of recruits to police officer ranks and community support officers has increased for women and people from BME communities. However, the culture, the systems and processes that have been developed and perpetuated by the dominant culture, needs to be reshaped so that women and BME officers and staff remain and prosper in the police service.”

The response to consultation by the Neyroud review put it more bluntly: “Culture of the service and current set up is still predominantly white male, and BME officers still find it difficult to break through the ranks,” says the review’s summary of responses on the issue of race. “There is a lack of trust in the service that still exists in terms of ‘walking the walk’ rather than ‘talking the talk’. These findings were mirrored when officers were asked about gender which also concluded that there is “still a perception that current processes maintain a ‘jobs for the boys’ culture.”

The report adds that while there is a general view in the police that “it wants to do equality”, it doesn’t actually do enough to make it happen.

Neyroud acknowledges that the challenge of a more diverse police force, especially among its senior ranks, remains prominent. “Furthermore, the impact of three or four years of a largely static workforce is likely to be problematic in terms of making the type of progress,” he said.

The Police Superintendents’ Association said it supported having a new single professional body, but cautioned the home secretary to step carefully on pre-entry qualification. “One of the major strengths of our service is the broad base and diverse background of recruits, and careful management will be required to ensure that, if the recommendation is accepted to introduce pre-entry qualifications, we do not lose that range of life experience so valued by the creator of the modern police service, Sir Robert Peel,” said its president, Derek Barnett.



Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story

BEN proposes there is no such thing as a pure environmental project – a so called pure environmental projects is one which has rejected its social and cultural context. BEN therefore works [...]]]> BEN is established to promote equality of opportunity with respect to ethnic communities in the preservation protection and development of the environment

BEN proposes there is no such thing as a pure environmental project – a so called pure environmental projects is one which has rejected its social and cultural context. BEN therefore works to integrate social, cultural and environmental concerns in the context of sustainable development. In order to achieve this, we work across diverse sectors. Our current themes integrate the areas of natural environment, the built environment, heritage, social justice, health and housing.

http://www.ben-network.org.uk/about_ben/intro.html

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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/child-asylumseekers-targeted-in-home-office-budget-cuts-2103184.html

Thousands of child asylum-seekers are to be removed from Britain under savage budget cuts being drawn up by the Home Office ahead of this week’s comprehensive spending review.

A briefing document sent to ministers sets out detailed proposals [...]]]> By Robert Verkaik, Home Affiars Editor, The Independent on Sunday Monday, 11 October 2010

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/child-asylumseekers-targeted-in-home-office-budget-cuts-2103184.html

Thousands of child asylum-seekers are to be removed from Britain under savage budget cuts being drawn up by the Home Office ahead of this week’s comprehensive spending review.

A briefing document sent to ministers sets out detailed proposals to remove child refugees before they reach 17 years old, and recommends bearing down on benefits given to asylum seekers. The UK Borders Agency (UKBA) plans to cut a third of its staff by 2014, prompting fears of security risks at British ports and airports Under the proposals, the UKBA says it would be able to reduce its annual £2.45bn budget by £346m.

Setting out a number of options for cutting costs, the document reads: “We need to resolve underlying trend on asylum support … On asylum support this will involve, for example, continuing recent tightening of entitlement to support, removing minors before they reach the age of 17 …”

But the Home Office is also considering saving money by offering a partial amnesty to asylum-seekers whose claims have been delayed by processing backlogs. The paper recommends “continuing to consider grants [of the right to stay in the UK] where agency delays mean even failed asylum-seekers are still in-country after several years”.

There are further plans to end the right of appeal to those applying for migration visas outside the UK, to reduce costs. But of greatest concern will be a policy of mass removal of unaccompanied children before they reach 17 and a half, the age when they are deemed to be adult asylum-seekers. Under current rules unaccompanied child asylum-seekers are usually granted leave to remain in the UK until they can make a fresh asylum application as an adult.

There are more than 4,200 unaccompanied child asylum-seekers in Britain, with most being supported in local authority social services homes. Emma Ginn, of the charity Medical Justice, said last night: “Many unaccompanied children are orphans. Many have escaped various forms of slavery, war and being made into child soldiers. To deport vulnerable unaccompanied children is despicable. To do it to save money is indecent … How we treat asylum-seeking children is already uncivilised, but to sink this low would cost our international reputation dearly.”

The document says: “In total these [cuts and policies] could deliver up to £346m of annualised cash savings by 2014/15 which would allow a reduction in taxpayer funding of £53m. It would mean around 3,500 more staff cuts (ie more than 7,000 from 2010/11 to 2014/15 or almost a third of our current complement).

This would imply a virtual doubling of caseworker productivity as a result of management culture and technology enabled redesign. It would mean a large percentage of travellers passing through automated gates at the border and more risk-based controls based on improved intelligence and scanning capability.”

But the officials warn: “These changes obviously involve significant level of management, project and implementation risk. … If bigger budget reductions are needed or to be able to deal with some of the funding and cost pressures from manifesto commitments we will need to go further.” Paul O’Connor, the Home Office group secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), said that cutting staff would lead to security risks from international criminal smuggling gangs and child and sex traffickers. He said: “There should be no compulsory redundancies. In terms of frontline security our members are the first port of call to maintain proper border controls. If they decide to cut one in three this country will be less safe and lead to a massive exploitation of young people.” He warned that job losses would also have an effect on the backlog of asylum cases built up over the last few years. “We expect services to be diminished because there will be fewer people to deal with the backlog, which will get worse … All this experience and skill built up over the years must not be jettisoned on the altar of the cuts.”

One of the proposals outlined in the document has already been implemented. The £50m Immigration Impact Fund, which gives aid to local authorities to help support asylum-seekers living in their region, was quietly dropped over the summer. And it was reported earlier this year that the Home Office was preparing to set up a £4m “reintegration centre” in Afghanistan so that failed Afghan child asylum-seekers can be returned home. An organisation is being sought to run the centre in the capital, Kabul, which would aim to help their resettlement. The aim is to assist 12 boys a month, aged 16 and 17, and 120 adults.

A spokeswoman for the UKBA said no decisions would be taken until the Government had completed its comprehensive spending review. She said no budget figures or policies had been confirmed.

Since this era of financial austerity began, newspapers and magazines have hurried to publish advice on how to get by on a [...]]]> They can’t work, they can’t claim benefits, they have nowhere to live. And their only means of survival is one £10 food voucher a week. Four failed asylum seekers tell their desperate stories.

Since this era of financial austerity began, newspapers and magazines have hurried to publish advice on how to get by on a straitened budget. So here is one to beat all others. Today we offer a guide to surviving on under £10 a week. Without a roof over your head! Without a bed to lie on! With no support from family or friends!

It’s quite possible, and here’s how. These helpful tips come from four failed asylum seekers in Birmingham, who remain in this country, preparing to appeal the Home Office decision, sleeping meanwhile in hedges, doorways, old garages and staircases.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jun/16/asylum-seekers-survive-on-streets?CMP=twt_gu

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Since August, France has deported about 1,000 ethnic Roma to Romania and Bulgaria. In a resolution passed Thursday, the European Union called for France to bring it to a stop.

European Parliament member for London Jean Lambert says France’s [...]]]> The European Parliament has criticized the move by the French government to expel its Roma migrants.

Since August, France has deported about 1,000 ethnic Roma to Romania and Bulgaria. In a resolution passed Thursday, the European Union called for France to bring it to a stop.

European Parliament member for London Jean Lambert says France’s Roma policy is discriminatory.

“It is not saying you have committed a crime and therefore you as an individual should be expelled from this country,” Lampert. “It really is sort of state discrimination of a group, which is already one of the most disadvantaged in the European Union.”

The resolution was passed with 337 votes; 245 voted against.

Lampert says it is unusual for the European Parliament to make such an open criticism of a member state, but she says the current situation demanded it.

“Today a majority of the members of the European Union took the position that this was so bad that, yes, they were going to name member states responsible,” said Lampert.

The resolution was also critical of the European Commission. It said the Commission, as guardian of the EU treaty, should have made a strong, quick response when the expulsions first started.

Discrimination against national or ethnic groups is forbidden under EU law. The French government says it is not stigmatizing Roma or breaking EU law. It says the deportation is a question of public safety. Roma were recently involved in a few public order incidents, including a riot in southeastern France.

Christian Schweiger from Britain’s Durham University says discrimination is an ongoing problem in Europe.

“This has been an ongoing issue,” said Schweiger. “Racial division, religious division has been an issue and countries very often do not abide by these rules.”

The resolution passed by the European Parliament also criticized the treatment of Roma by other member states. This week, Italian authorities dismantled illegal Roma camps around Milan and Rome.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=roma+expulsion+from+france&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a

Descriptions of the human race based on racial characteristics go back to the late seventeenth century. In 1684, a French doctor, François Bernier, published “Nouvelle division de la terre par les différentes espèces ou races qui l’habitant” which proposed four different face and body types: Europeans, Far Easterners, [...]]]> BBC Radio 4 – Listen Again WebSite

Descriptions of the human race based on racial characteristics go back to the late seventeenth century. In 1684, a French doctor, François Bernier, published “Nouvelle division de la terre par les différentes espèces ou races qui l’habitant” which proposed four different face and body types: Europeans, Far Easterners, Lapps and Blacks.

In the eighteenth century, Carl Linnaeus made specific reference to skin colour in his system of categorization: Europeanus (white), Asiaticus (yellow), Americanus (red) and Africanus (black). Linnaeus’ pupil Johann Blumenbach, sometimes described as the founder of modern anthropology, added a fifth grouping, Malay (brown).

The idea of categorizing people according to their colour – “colour taxonomy” – greatly interests Trevor Phillips. A prominent member of the Afro-Caribbean community, Trevor wants to know how and why this system took hold. He wants to know why a system based on skin colour should have had such a profound impact on relations between races. He wants to understand what role these categories might have had in shaping modern day racial prejudice, belief and behaviour.

Trevor asks: “What is it about colour that matters so much? We know what lies beneath the skin – melanin. But this isn’t just a chemical thing. This is about something deeper and more atavistic. It caught on because it corresponds to some human need or maybe some human memory. But it’s hard to say why, especially when most people’s colour isn’t actually what the word says. White people are really pink or cream, black people are brown, red people are bronze etc. And within every group, there’s a massive range of colour.”

At the same time, Trevor recognises that a combination of political liberalism and mobility is transforming our racial concepts. Trevor wonders whether a taxonomy based on differentiation by colour is still sustainable.

He says: “For a whole series of reasons there is a fundamental sea change going on in our heads that might spell the death of the Linnaean classification. We are mixing more than ever before. Britain is a leader – mixed race is the largest, youngest and fastest growing group. Many of our brightest stars are mixed race. With more and more people living and loving all over the globe, surely this is the future. No simple system of racial categorisation could survive this kind of mixing.”

If colour ceases to be a meaningful description, what happens to racial identity? Does it wither away? At what point does racial mixing signal the transformation of both communities into something new?

Trevor doesn’t have answers to these questions. But he’s very keen to investigate them

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00smbbr/Colour_Coded_Episode_1/

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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100428121600.htm

With [...]]]> Professor Ravinder Barn and Dr Vicki Harman from the Centre for Criminology and Sociology at Royal Holloway, University of London are carrying out research into white mothers of mixed-race children. It is part of a wider study of mixed-race children and young people that has spanned more than two decades. See more at:-

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100428121600.htm

With Thanks to:-
University of Royal Holloway London (2010, April 28). Do racist attitudes hinder mothers of mixed-race children?. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 5, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2010/04/100428121600.htm