MPS Staff Support Associations/Groups

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.027545

I note you seek access to the following information:

1. Copies of your policy/guidance/standard operating procedure or similar in relation to Staff Support Groups/Associations (such as the Black Police Association, the LGBT+ Network etc).

2. Please also advise whether you have any kind of funding arrangements for such groups/associations. If you do please advise all amounts you paid to such groups in the financial year 2021-22.

3. Please advise which groups are provided with FTE officer posts to dedicate themselves to the groups's activities. Please advise how these groups were selected.

4. Please also advise whether you hold a register of such groups, and if so disclose the register in full.

5. Please also advise how many members each group has.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Q1 - Copies of your policy/guidance/standard operating procedure or similar in relation to Staff Support Groups/Associations (such as the Black Police Association, the LGBT+ Network etc)

This is currently being developed and is not currently available in a final format.

Q2 - Please also advise whether you have any kind of funding arrangements for such groups/associations. If you do please advise all amounts you paid to such groups in the financial year 2021-22.

The budget for 2021/22 was £30,000, only £17,518 was actually spent in 2021/22. This figure does not include any staff salaries.

Q3 - Please advise which groups are provided with FTE officer posts to dedicate themselves to the groups's activities. Please advise how these groups were selected.

There are 4 full time posts – Black Police Association (BPA chair), Asian Muslim Police (AMP chair), Disability Support Association (DSA chair) and the Network of Women (NoW position given to the secretary). All with the exception of the NOW post have been in place for a number of years and the original decision making is unknown. The decision to provide a full time NoW post was at the discretion of AC Professionalism, Helen Ball.

Q4 - Please also advise whether you hold a register of such groups, and if so disclose the register in full.

Please find attached a document titled List of Staff Support Associations which answers this question.

Q5 - Please also advise how many members each group has

Please be advised that Staff Support Associations are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act. These groups are not required to supply data to the MPS for the purposes of a request, and this data is not held by the MPS.

List of Staff Support Associations:

The Association of Muslim Police
Association of Senior Women Officers
British Association for Women in Policing
Gypsy, Roma & Traveller Police Association
Christian Police Family
Metropolitan Police LGBT+ Network
Jewish Police Association
Metropolitan Black Police Association
Metropolitan Police Service Chinese and South East Asian Staff Association
Metropolitan Police Humanists
Metropolitan Police Service Emerald Society
Metropolitan Police Service Greek & Cypriot Association
Metropolitan Police Hindu Association
Metropolitan Police Ibero-American Association
Metropolitan Police Italian Association
Metropolitan Police Polish Association
Metropolitan Police Sikh Association
Metropolitan Police Slavic Association
Metropolitan Police Disability Staff Association
Metropolitan Police Service Turkish Police Association
Metropolitan Police Romanian Association
Network of Women