The Police Race Action Plan’s maturity matrix – the tool by which forces’ progress against the PRAP will be measured, assessed, and accounted for – has been developed over several months by the plan’s national team.

A method has been developed to inform the maturity matrix’s structure and content – referred to as a ‘provenance model’ – which assures that the matrix is rooted in the Anti-Racism Commitment, is directed and guided by feedback from Black communities both inside and outside policing, and informed by the wider work of the PRAP at a national and local level in pursuit of these goals.

Anti-Racism Commitment --> Direction and guidance from Black communities --> Learning from forces, PRAP activity and data --> Maturity matrix criteria and priorities

There has been clear feedback from multiple stakeholders and communities about the importance of the plan having clear measures of progress and performance.

The maturity matrix will use both quantitative – numbers and data driven – performance measures, as well as asking forces to provide narrative on their work on more qualitative performance measures.

These performance measures are spread across 14 standards, the majority of which are grouped under the outcomes in the Anti-Racism Commitment, as well as two overall standards.

These performance measures range from recruitment statistics, narrative around the work of positive action teams and any disproportionality in misconduct processes against Black officers and staff in workstream one, through to community engagement events and assessing strategies to work towards reconciliation with local Black communities for individual police forces under workstream three.

Our aim is to publish the maturity matrix assessments and the data that underpins them both internally and externally.

Our vision is to have the maturity matrix subject to internal moderation and reality testing, peer reviewed by other forces, as well as being consulted on with local Black communities.

All of these processes will be tested and piloted over the coming months and evolve over time in response to various factors, such as emerging needs that may need to be measured in terms of performance, good practice that is identified as well as any developments across the wider landscape of policing and the criminal justice system.

We will be publishing regular updates about the maturity matrix as we develop the product over the next 12 months.

Draft maturity matrix standards and proposed measures

Workstream one – culture and workforce

1. Workforce Representation: Establish an equitable and representative workforce

• Recruitment and employment
• Complaints, misconduct and grievance
• Ethnicity pay gap

2. Development and Progression: Support the development and progression of Black people in policing

• Career progression
• Access to learning and development services

3. An Anti-Racist Workplace Culture: Create and sustain an anti-racist culture

• Strategy
• Learning
• Belonging
• Culture

Workstream two – powers and procedures

4. Protection Against Criminalisation: Apply a safeguarding approach to police investigations

• Protection against criminalisation
• Intervention and diversion

5. Disproportionate Use of Powers: Use police powers and procedures appropriately and proportionately, with a higher likelihood of a positive outcome

• Explain or reform

6. Procedural Justice and Trauma: Reduce the adverse impact of police powers on Black people

• Procedural justice
• Learning
• Leadership

Workstream three – trust and reconciliation

7. Community Trauma and Reconciliation: Acknowledge and repair community trauma with Black communities

• Strategy
• Community trauma

8. Transparency and Scrutiny: Demonstrate transparency and invite scrutiny from and with Black communities

• Scrutiny methods
• Outreach

9. Listening and Responding: Demonstrate that we listen and respond to our Black communities

• ‘You said, we did’
• Co-production
• Threat harm and risk

10. Neighbourhood Policing: Proactive engagement with Black communities in day-to-day policing

• Neighbourhood operations
• Communications

Workstream four – safety and victimisation

11. Protection from Harm: Prevent, protect, and divert Black people from harm

• Threat harm risk
• Prevention, intervention and diversion

12. The Police response when harm has occurred: Deliver a police response that reflects the needs of Black people

• Quality of services
• Accessibility of services

Overall standards

13. Data and Accountability: Be accountable

• Data and analysis
• Accountability

14. Leadership and Change Management: Deliver change

• Leadership
• Anti-racist strategy
• Delivery structure
• Organisational learning