Sadiq Khan to spend up to £25,000 on ‘anti-racism allyship’ for policing board

Sadiq Khan set up the London Policing Board to ‘oversee and scrutinise’ the Met’s review of culture and standards – ELLIOTT FRANKS

The policing office run by Sadiq Khan is set to spend up to £25,000 on “anti-racism allyship” training for members of the Metropolitan Police’s new scrutiny board.

The Mayor’s Office of Policing and Crime (Mopac) has advertised for a training provider to offer the diversity class to senior figures sitting on the London Policing Board.

Mr Khan announced the creation of the board last year to “oversee and scrutinise” the Met’s review of culture and standards.

Its members include Stuart Lawrence, the brother of Stephen Lawrence, who was killed in a racially motivated attack aged 18 in 1993, and Neil Basu, a retired Met police officer, who was once Britain’s most senior non-white policeman.

Mr Khan has pledged to put 1,300 neighbourhood and community support officers on the streets of London – DAN KITWOOD/GETTY

The contract advertised on the Government website by the Mayor’s Office placed its value at £10,000 to £25,000 prior to bids closing earlier this month.

A description posted to the site reads: “Mopac is seeking a highly qualified and experienced facilitator to lead a session on anti-racism allyship for members of the London Policing Board. This session will delve into the complexities of allyship and its role in their work.”

Any successful bidder will have the work for two years as part of plans to deliver further allyship sessions on issues relating to equality, diversion and inclusion (EDI)  “as needed”.

Sessions are expected to be about three hours and be delivered face-to-face. There would also be the option to offer up to five further sessions on additional EDI topics in the future.

Metropolitan Police has faced growing criticism – ANDY RAIN/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

The advert stated the aim of the training would be to “empower all participants to actively contribute towards driving improvements to the Metropolitan Police Service in addressing racism”.

It continued: “The session should foster a safe and inclusive space for open and honest dialogue, encourage active participation and provide actionable strategies to enhance the participants’ allyship skills.

“It should reference the multiple intersecting forms of prejudice, including racism, misogyny, LGBT+, disability and faith.”

Critics of Mr Khan were quick to question his use of the cash. Sir John Hayes, the chairman of the Common Sense Group of Tory backbenchers, accused Mr Khan of “a disturbing misuse of public money” and said the training was likely to be “completely meaningless”.

‘Immense waste of money’

Sir John said: “Of course everyone’s against racial discrimination or anything similar. But to turn countering it into an ideology and create an industry around it is frankly an immense waste of money that should be spent on front-line policing.

“People expect money devoted to policing to protect them from criminal harm and catch criminals and stop crime.

“It is another example of displacing resources in a way that at very best is meaningless and at worst considerably more disturbing.”

Unconscious bias training was scrapped by the Government at the end of 2020 for being ineffective, after an official review found diversity courses do not change behaviour or improve workplace equality in the long term.

Learning about unconscious biases was made mandatory for Civil Service staff in 2014, covering both junior and senior mandarins.

But a review of the Government’s Behavioural Insights Team found that the training risked “backfiring effects”, with participants exposed to information that suggested biases were unchangeable.

Civil servants’ diversity classes

Despite No 10 abandoning the training, examples have surfaced in the past couple of years of civil servants defying ministers to run diversity classes across departments with thousands of staff.

A high-profile report by Baroness Casey last year concluded that Scotland Yard was institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic, warning the public was being let down by a force that no longer had a functioning neighbourhood policing service.

Baroness Casey’s review highlighted examples of racist, homophobic and misogynistic behaviour in the Metropolitan Police – KIRSTY O’CONNOR/PA WIRE

The review found the Met was struggling to embed good behaviour among officers, with Lady Casey writing: “Do I think that they should say they are institutionally racist? Yes, I do.

“Do I think they should say they are institutionally sexist? Yes, I know they are. Do I think they should say they are institutionally homophobic? Yes, I do.”

She went on to warn the Met it must “wake up” and take the findings seriously, including a number of examples of racism and misogyny perpetuated by serving officers in her 363-page report.

Last week Gavin Stephens, the chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said policing needed to avoid being defensive and admit the scale of problems surrounding institutional racism to gain the support of local communities.

Gavin Stephens, head of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said forces needed to admit the scale of problems surrounding institutional racism – GEOFF PUGH

A spokesman for Mr Khan said: “This week was the 31st anniversary of the appalling racist murder of Stephen Lawrence, and the Mayor reiterated his view that the Met Police remains institutionally racist, as well as institutionally sexist and homophobic.

“The Met under its new leadership is now on a path of far-reaching systemic and cultural reform, and the independent London Policing Board will play a key role in supporting and holding the police to account, ensuring these fundamental reforms are delivered.

“The election on May 2 is a clear choice between Sadiq committed to reforming the Met Police and stamping out racism, or the Tory candidate who has backed huge cuts to the police and believes police misconduct should be dealt with behind closed doors.”

London Labour was contacted for comment.

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