Lincolnshire
Police Authority

Equalities and Diversity > 

Equality Monitoring Information

The Authority monitors the make-up of the membership and secretariat with regard to age profile, disability, sexual orientation, gender, race and religion.  Due to the small size of the Authority and secretariat, we don't publish the data due to reasons of confidentiality. 

Equality Profile of Police Authority Members and Staff

The following equality profile relates to Police Authority Members and staff in the secretariat in the calendar year January 2011 - December 2011.

• There haven't been any recruitment or promotion opportunities in the Secretariat in the time period noted above.
• The Secretariat is made up of 7 full time members of staff and 2 part time members of staff. There are 17 members of the Police Authority (9 Councillor members and 8 Independent members), 3 Independent Lay members of the Ethical Standards Committee and 42 Independent Custody Visitors (voluntary role).
• The Members' Scheme of Allowance sets out the the payment
  of allowances to Police Authority Members, Independent Lay Members of
  Standards Committees and members of Independent Member Selection Panels. The Authority approved the Members' Scheme of Allowances for 2011/12 (direct link to PDF document) at their meeting on 27 May 2011.
• All staff have regular 'one to one' supervision meetings with their line manager, the meetings include the discussion and consideration of each individual's training and development needs.  All staff agree objectives as part of their annual 'Professional Development and Review' (appraisal) process.  Individual PDRs are monitored and reviewed on a regular basis.
• There haven't been any occurences of women returning to work after being on maternity leave.
• There haven't been any occurences of disabled employees returning to work following sick leave relating to their disability.
• There haven't been any occurences of grievances, disciplinary action or dismissals.

Equality Monitoring Data - Recruitment

We also monitor equality data from recruitment campaigns.  We ask everyone who applies for a position with the Authority to fill in an equal opportunities monitoring form. We look at the results and assess if there are any concerns or issues that the Authority needs to address, or if there are areas for improvement (for example in advertising coverage). We collect data for all positions, such as:

• Independent Members of the Police Authority
• Independent Lay Members of the Police Authority
• Independent Custody Visitors
• Members of staff in the secretariat.

Independent Member Recruitment - November 2009

Following the resignation of an Independent Member of the Authority, a recruitment campaign was initiated in November 2009 and monitoring data was collected from the applicants for Independent Member posts of the Police Authority in January 2010.

The Authority has been aware of the need to attract more female candidates and people from younger age ranges and from a variety of ethnic background.  We are committed to becoming an employer whose workforce is truly representative of the diverse communities within Lincolnshire and we will work towards identifying and removing any deterrent to attracting people from diverse backgrounds to work for the Authority. 

The following steps were taken to encourage applications from a widest range of people from diverse groups as possible:

• We maintain a database of around 100 organisations, community groups and associations representing the elderly, young people, women, religion, ethnic minorities, the disabled and the travelling community. All are contacted during the advertising and promotion of Independent member vacancies.
• We also provide promotional literature to all members of the 3 Independent Advisory Groups in the County.
• We emphasise in our advertising and publicity that we are looking for people with knowledge of diversity issues to support the Authority’s duty to promote equality and diversity in the police force and have the ability to represent a broad range of local communities and challenge accepted views in a constructive way.
• It is made clear that we welcome applications from all eligible people – irrespective of gender, ethnic origin, religious belief, sexual orientation, disability or other factors.
• We contribute towards childcare or other dependant care costs where appropriate.
• Our approach is to provide a blanket coverage of the County, through local media organisations including newspaper, radio and television; through the internet using the Authority’s website and job sites; libraries, doctors surgeries, dental surgeries, hospitals, universities, colleges, learning direct centres, gyms, bus stations, public houses, cinemas, theatres, citizen advice bureaus, all parish councils, Independent Custody Visitors and police stations.
• Past campaigns have included messages on gay and lesbian websites; a joint advert with colleagues in the East Midlands region in Black History Month magazine; and an innovative advert which ran on local radio.
• The application form and supporting documentation meet national criteria set jointly by the Home Office and APA e.g. application forms are in Arial 12 font; can be completed online; named officer and contact details provided to assist in completing the form.
• Candidates are asked what special provision, equipment or other assistance we can provide to help them attend for interview.
• We have a portable hearing loop for interviews, as required.
• Whilst competencies tested during the application stage have been developed nationally by the APA, the Independent Selection panel has included an additional competency on Diversity, which requires prospective candidates to have an understanding of issues confronting people of all social groups, particularly women, minority ethnic communities, people with disabilities, and young people.

We received 107 completed equal opportunity monitoring forms.  The monitoring forms showed that 36 (34%) of applicants were female, 71 (66%) were male.  The majority of applicants were in the age range 36 – 55 (48 applicants or 45%) and 56+ (37 applicants or 35%).  There were a small number of applicants in the 25 – 35 age range but none from the age range 21 – 24.  Out of the 107 monitoring forms, there was an increase in the number of applicants from ethnic backgrounds (12 applicants or 11%).   The recruitment drive attracted reasonable representation by people with different sexual orientation, disability and with different religious beliefs/faith.

Further Information

• The Equalities and Diversity Annual Report includes further information about employment monitoring.
• The Equalities and Diversity Impact Assessment also includes analysis about employment monitoring data (see below).
• The Equalities Monitoring Report is available for the post of Chief Executive that the Authority recruited in January 2010.