Rehman Chishti – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rehman Chishti on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking with Police and Crime Commissioners to improve diversity in police forces.

Brandon Lewis

The Government is clear; increasing diversity in our police forces is not an optional extra. It goes right to the heart of this country’s historic principle of policing by consent. We must ensure that the public have trust and confidence in the police, and that the police reflect the communities they serve.

The Government has reformed policing to ensure that there is a sector-led approach to making improvements, including in the area of recruitment and representation.

The College of Policing as the professional body for policing is delivering a major piece of work -black, Asian and minority ethnic Progression 2018 – to address under-representation in policing. The Government looks forward to working with the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners and individual Police and Crime Commissioners as democratically elected local leaders of policing, to place a greater emphasis on this agenda and urges PCCs to consider the opportunities provided through the Police Transformation Fund.

While the Government would expect senior commitment in all forces it is for local leaders to decide how they will deliver improvements.