Stonewall (1469A/22)
Request
I would be grateful if you could provide the following information:
- Please confirm whether West Midlands Police is currently or has been a member of the Stonewall Diversity Champions scheme at any time in the last five years.
- If so, please provide the amount of any money paid to Stonewall in 2021/22, whether or not as payment for goods and services.
- Please confirm whether West Midlands Police has made a submission to the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index in the last five years.
- If so, please provide a copy of West Midlands Police’s most recent submission to the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index.
- Please confirm whether West Midlands Police has an LGBT Network.
- If so, please provide minutes from the last meeting of West Midlands Police’s LGBT Network and the amount of any funding West Midlands Police assigns to the LGBT Network.
- Please confirm whether officers from West Midlands Police attended any Pride events this year and for what purpose.
- Please provide a list of any training carried out by West Midlands Police relating to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.
- Please provide details of any third-party training providers, stakeholders or external partners employed by West Midlands Police in relation to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.
- Please provide copies of any policies and/or training materials that West Midlands Police holds regarding its duty to comply with Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Response
Our data are not organised in such a way as to allow us to provide this information within the appropriate (cost) limit within the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act (see ‘Reason for Decision’ below).
Although excess cost removes the force’s obligations under the Freedom of Information Act, as a gesture of goodwill I have supplied information, relative to your request, retrieved before it was realised that the fees limit would be exceeded (see enclosed). I trust this is helpful, but it does not affect our legal right to rely on the fees regulations for the remainder of the request.
1: Please confirm whether West Midlands Police is currently or has been a member of the Stonewall Diversity Champions scheme at any time in the last five years.
Under section 21 of the Act, we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible to you. The information you requested is available on the following website.
Stonewall (1228A/22) – Freedom of Information – West Midlands Police (west-midlands.police.uk)
2: If so, please provide the amount of any money paid to Stonewall in 2021/22, whether or not as payment for goods and services.
Under section 21 of the Act, we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible to you. The information you requested is available on the following website.
Stonewall (1228A/22) – Freedom of Information – West Midlands Police (west-midlands.police.uk)
3: Please confirm whether West Midlands Police has made a submission to the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index in the last five years.
No
4: If so, please provide a copy of West Midlands Police’s most recent submission to the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index.
Not applicable by virtue of q3
5: Please confirm whether West Midlands Police has an LGBT Network.
YES – This is a staff association
5: If so, please provide minutes from the last meeting of West Midlands Police’s LGBT Network and the amount of any funding West Midlands Police assigns to the LGBT Network.
There is no specific budget allocated.
As a staff association – this is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act. Therefore, any minutes will not be released.
Information of staff associations are not covered by the Act, even though the information maybe held or stored on Police servers or premises. This is provided that the information is for the sole use of those associations and is not used for a policing purpose. West Midlands Police do not consider that the minutes contain an appropriate connection between the information and the authority.
6: Please confirm whether officers from West Midlands Police attended any Pride events this year and for what purpose.
Section 12 Cost – We would need to search every individual officer that may have attended “any” pride event. This would exceed the costs for the purposes of the FOI Act.
We can say that:
Two officers attended Belfast Pride in another capacity, due to their national role they were allowed to take part in the parade to support colleagues in their own time. They also took part in Northumbria Pride in their own time and at their own cost as they were already there in another capacity.
Officers and staff attended Birmingham Pride in their own time to support their colleagues and to enhance community engagement
7: Please provide a list of any training carried out by West Midlands Police relating to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.
Our training services are provided by an external organisation ‘Skill Boosters’ covering all protected characteristics.
8: Please provide details of any third-party training providers, stakeholders or external partners employed by West Midlands Police in relation to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.
S.M. & V. SHARMA MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP CONSULTANTS LTD Company No: 10071509
9: Please provide copies of any policies and/or training materials that West Midlands Police holds regarding its duty to comply with Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
No specific policy held
No specific training materials held by West Midlands Police as external provider supplies online training in this area.
Attachments
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