Dyfed Powys Police
FOI Ref 465/2008
Request
I am requesting basic information on diversity training carried out after the
publication of the Macpherson report into the death of Stephen Lawrence. Could
you please provide information relating to the following three questions:
1. How many "Diversity" training courses has your Constabulary provided in the
period 1999-2008?
2. What was the target group of those courses, i.e: all staff, police officers, police
staff, staff of a particular rank/grade, etc.
3. What was the duration of the courses in terms of days/ hours.
FYI, please see the following clarifications regarding the above questions
i) By 'diversity' I refer to any course aimed at meeting the training
recommendations of the Lawrence report or subsequent training related to
awareness of issues of race, prejudice, sexual orientation, religion or gender.
ii) I am interested in all types of diversity training including both stand alone
courses or diversity elements within courses, where the identification of that
element is easily recognisable and its inclusion in your report is unproblematic
iii) I am not concerned with the diversity training contained within the Probationer
Training Program or the IPLDP, and do not require any information regarding
diversity
training
undertaken
as
part
of
basic
probationer
training.
iv) Where the diversity training is self-directed or e-learning without a fixed
duration, I would request that an estimate on the number of study hours required
for its completion is provided instead of information on course duration.
v) I do not require any information on the number of participants involved in any
course, the completion rates, or any detailed information on course content,
delivery method or evaluation.
Response
I can confirm that an initial assessment has identified an estimate in excess of 56
hours to collate and retrieve information held relevant to your request. However
this would only cover courses specifically named Diversity Training, but would fail
to identify courses where diversity has been addressed within other courses as
referred to below ie the “
Golden Thread”. Therefore the cost of providing you with
the information is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond
i.e. the cost of locating and retrieving the information exceeds the “appropriate
level” as stated in the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit)
Regulations 2004 located @
www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2004/20043244.htm.
It is estimated that it would cost ÂŁ1,400 to comply with your request.
In
accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a
Refusal Notice. If the request were to be refined to cover the period over the last
two years then it is estimated that the information could be retrieved and collated
within the designated time limit. However it is noted that your e-mail of the 08
September 2008 indicates that information pertaining to a shorter period is not
relevant to your research.
The Force Development Services Department have however been able to
provide the following information which might assist you.
“
This information is not readily available, as Diversity Training has been provided
divisionally and centrally since 1999. It has also been delivered in 3 phases since
1999. The Force is currently delivering Phase 3 to all employees in the Force and
complying with the ACPO/APA/Home Office Police Race and Diversity Learning
and Development Programme. Diversity has been the “Golden Thread” running
through all our courses over this time. The current Diversity course has been
delivered through a blended learning approach ie completion of an on-line
workbook (Approximate completion time 3 hours), attendance on a 2 day in force
workshop and completion of a Portfolio of Competence which takes between 2-4
hours.
Dyfed Powys Police also has an obligation to include the Welsh
Language as part of its Diversity Training, so we have 7 strands to our
programmes. All employees of Dyfed Powys Police have been the target group
of current and previous training. Current employee numbers approx 2,000 staff.
For each of the 3 phases of the training, courses have been of 2 days ie 16 hours
contact time”.
“Currently in excess of 1100 staff have received training ie 2 day course and
workbook completion, during Phase 3 of the 2,000 and of these 254 have already
submitted portfolios of evidence showing their competence in the application of
Diversity issues to their day to day roles, which is a criteria of the PRLDP
mentioned in the text”.
