Language guide for MPS employees

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.024065

I note you seek access to the following information:

After careful consideration I would like to submit a revised request for information.

Please note that the reference to employees in the questions below should now be taken to mean only uniformed officers (of any rank). Please redact the names and personal details of all force employees from any documents and information disclosed.

1. Does the Metropolitan Police force's HR department or [similar] provide all and or any of the following to uniformed officers (of any rank) when they are classed as new recruits to the force

(a) A language guide or similar which advises employees on the most appropriate words, phrases, and terms to use when writing to and or communicating with and or referring to their colleagues and or members of the public and or the organisation's clients/customers/service users and or representatives and employees in the organisation's stakeholder and partner organisations. Typically, such a guide will outline words, terms, and phrases to avoid for whatever reason while providing more acceptable words, terms, and phrases. Such guidance could be included in a staff handbook (or similar) or it could be issued in the form of specific written advice. Alternatively, it could be included on the organisation's intranet site and or it could be issued/held digitally and or it could be included in any training/induction video/film.

(b) A guide or similar which helps and encourages employees to promote diversity and inclusivity both in the workplace and or in their dealings with members of the public and or in their dealings with the organisation's clients/customers/service users and or in their dealings with employees in and or representatives of the organisation's stakeholders and any partner organisations. The guide will include but will not be limited to advice on best practice when it comes to diversity and or inclusivity and or anti-discrimination policies. It will encourage staff how to avoid discrimination on the grounds of race and or religion and or gender and or sexuality and or age and or disability and or political belief and or social class and or income and or social background. Such guidance could be included in a staff handbook (or similar) or it could be issued in the form of specific written advice. Alternatively, it could include on the organisation's intranet site and or it could be held / issued digitally and or it could be included in any training/induction film/video.

(c) A guide or similar which advises employees on the importance of respecting and using a person's preferred gender pronoun. That person could be a colleague and or a member of the public and or one of the organisation's customers/clients/service users and or an employee and or representative of a stakeholder or partner organisation. Such guidance could be included in a staff handbook (or similar) or it could be issued in the form of specific written advice. Alternatively, it could be included on the organisation's intranet site and or it could be held/issued digitally and or it could be included in any training/induction film/video.

2. If you have answered yes to any part (or indeed all of question one) can you please provide copies of the guidance irrespective of the form in which it is issued.

3. Since 1 April 2020, has the force's HR department (or similar) issued any kind of guidance (as defined in question 1 a to c) to other employees who were not new recruits at the time the guidance was issued. If the answer is yes, can you, please provide copies of the guidance irrespective of the form in which it is issued.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:

Section 31(1) - Law Enforcement
Section 43(2) – Commercial Interests

Reason for decision

I have applied Section 31 and Section 43 to questions 2 and 3 as the requested information contains tactical operational information and names of the content owner and content editor.

Section 31(1)(a)(b) is engaged in this case as disclosure under the Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice the prevention and detection of crimes and the apprehension or prosecution of offenders.

Release would have the effect of compromising law enforcement tactics and strategies and would also hinder any future investigations or review investigations into similar matters.

Disclosure would technically be releasing sensitive operational information into the public domain which would enable those with the time, capacity and inclination to try and map strategies and tactics used by police forces.

Release would have the effect of compromising law enforcement processes and would also hinder the ability of the MPS to fulfil its primary aim of enforcing the law and protecting the public. Any intelligence contained within documents is in use by Officers any release of tactical information could harm our ability to conduct that assessment and reduce our ability to conduct future investigations.

Disclosure would technically be releasing information into the public domain which would enable those with the capacity and inclination to try and use the information to commit crime or evade justice.

By disclosing all the requested information, the criminal fraternity would be likely to use this information to try and circumvent police law enforcement capabilities and tactics.

It is inevitably harmful to provide the criminal fraternity with current intelligence of the MPS. Law enforcement measures would be rendered less effective should the MPS confirm or deny whether any additional information is held.

To provide all the requested information may compromise potential ongoing or future operations and or prosecutions, the consequence of which would hinder the prevention and/or detection of crime. It therefore remains the case that any information identifying the focus of policing activity could be used to the advantage of criminals. Likewise, providing all the additional information provides intelligence that can be used by criminals to undermine the operational integrity of policing that would be likely to adversely affect public safety and have a negative impact on the ability of the MPS to protect the public and uphold the law.

There is no doubt that addition information could lead to an increase in crime based on criminals understanding of our capabilities. Such an effect would in turn impact on MPS resources and detract officers and staff from its role in law enforcement.

Providing further information would be likely to compromise law enforcement tactics, which in turn would hinder the prevention and detection of crime.

Section 43 (2) - Commercial Interests - In considering whether or not this information should be disclosed I have considered the potential harm that could be caused by disclosure.

By disclosing the information requested would damage ongoing training processes and undermine business relationships. To disclose the requested information namely lesson plans would be contractually sensitive. The information requested forms part of an accredited training course. By placing this information in the public domain would give an unfair advantage to other training providers and may lead to a breach of contract thus rendering the accredited training course ineffective. The supplier of the course would not be under the expectation that this information would be placed into the public domain.

Having considered your request, I can see no public interest in disclosing the requested information. On balance and having reviewed the requested information, I have found that the public interest lies in favour of protecting the commercial interests of those who provide products and services to the MPS for training purposes.

Disclosure

There is no document/handout paper based or digital that is provided to the new recruits (Student Police Officers) around these topics. They do learn about diversity, inclusion and engagement during their 17 weeks initial training at HEIs. This is broken down into:

- 2 hours communication skills and team work with a session aim to introduce student police officers to some fundamental communication principles and basic approaches to communication within the framework of their role as a constable working within a team.

- 7 hours on Engagement and Inclusion with session aims to develop the student police officers understanding of key factors affecting equality, engagement and inclusion of the community, within the framework of the Equality Act, unconscious bias and the national decision model.

- The officers have multiple professional standards inputs which cover communicating with the communities and colleagues including the rank system and use of nicknames.

- They also have a week on their BCU where they learn about the communities they will be policing and having inputs from different diverse groups which make up that area.

The different subjects are covered robustly using different learning styles with activities including, but not limited to, group discussion, team tasks and role plays. The student officers are encouraged to make their own notes on the learning and are provided with reading material created the by college of policing.