Thames Valley Police’s ‘positive discrimination led to a divided workforce’

After three white officers were successful in their claim of race discrimination for not being promoted, an independent review by Thames Valley Police found that the DEI practices are divided.

The review led by Kerrin WILSON, a retired Assistant Chief Constable of the Lincolnshire Police found that PAPP, or Positive Action Progression Programme, was not transparent, and resulted in positive discrimination.

Wilson stated in her report that the PAPP was at “the core of this case”. It is designed to encourage and enable officers from ethnic minority groups to develop their skills to be ready for promotion.

The programme was not transparently managed, nor was it designed or consulted on. She said that this led to some parts of the organization feeling excluded. “Instead of positive action, the direct posting of an individual to a specialist position was positive discrimination,” she added.

Three white police officers who were passed over by an ethnic minority candidate for promotion and denied a promotion won their race discrimination case in August 2024.

The tribunal found that Thames Valley Police overlooked the officers because of their race, and that a ethnic minority sergeant had been promoted “without a competitive assessment process” in order to improve diversity within senior staff.

Detective Inspector Phillip Turner Robson, Inspector Graham Horton, and custody inspector Kirsteen bishop brought a tribunal action when Superintendent Emma Baillie promoted Sergeant Sidhu to a newly created role as detective inspector in the Priority Crime Team without conducting a competition or advertising the job position.

Sidhu was not even an inspector at the time she was promoted as detective inspector, according to the tribunal.

Wilson stated: “The employment tribunal has had a significant impact on the police force. The tribunal has called into question the leadership of the chief constable, and senior leaders at all levels.

It has raised questions about trust, transparency, and consistency of individuals and the approach of the force to the equality agenda. There is also a lack in faith in internal communications.

She said that this had led to an increased feeling of marginalisation for all minoritised employees, regardless of protected characteristics. However, the majority of them were from ethnic minorities.

Divided workforce

In her report, she explained that the incident had brought to light the concerns of parts of the organization who felt undervalued. This has manifested in a divided workplace. The force must, despite individual recommendations, make it a priority to heal the divisions and create a fully inclusive and united organisation.

Wilson stated that the lack of training and management of professional development for middle managers in Thames Valley is a major concern. There are no requirements or managements of their professional growth outside of operational accreditations.

The College of Policing recognizes that middle and senior managers in the country have not received specific training on equalities legislation, the equality duty, dispute settlement and employment tribunals. They are working to close this gap.

“Equalities Training is universally hard to evaluate. The current equity training programme that is being implemented across the force doesn’t have a plan for how it will be evaluated as meeting its goals. Although critical race theory isn’t taught in the course, certain aspects of its delivery could create divisions instead of bringing people together if they aren’t delivered well,” explained she.

Wilson made 51 recommendations including:

• To overcome obstacles, the force should consult experts in the field to help it navigate the policy areas that could be controversial. It could be the advice of experts in the relevant field or from lawyers who are specialists.
• Equality impact analyses (EIAs) are crucial in programs such as PAPP, where it’s known that certain groups could be penalized in order to help other groups. Any EIA must include mitigation.
• The development of talent management programs should be inclusive and merit-based, while also enabling all those with protected characteristics to overcome the barriers that prevent them from competing.
• Thames Valley Police needs to review its arrangements for staff association meetings, both at the local and central levels. This will ensure that discussions can be brought up early to be discussed before they escalate to tribunal status.
• The force should look at its internal dispute resolution approach and work with staff associations to develop a programme that will minimise the risk of tribunals by resolving disputes early or through alternative methods.
• The force should examine how the internal recruitment and selection processes are conducted, and ensure that the interview panel members possess the necessary skills and training for the job. A transparent process that includes a degree independent input as standard is also required.

“From the heart”

She recommended that internal communications of the police force should be “from the heart at the right moment and by the correct voices”, rather than being overly crafted.

Chief Constable Jason Hogg of Thames Valley Police said that the review’s recommendations and findings will guide our next steps in working together to foster a culture where all our employees feel valued and supported.

“Thames Valley Police will take these recommendations very seriously and use them to improve.”

“I’m also happy that the report recognizes that Thames Valley Police has a ‘wonderful team with passion, and working methods that deliver excellent policing to its communities.’ And that the force is successful in tackling crimes and supporting the most vulnerable.”

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