As Minister for Policing, one of my key aims, and a key plank of the Government’s Safer Streets Mission, is to restore public trust and confidence in policing. All groups within our society deserve to feel protected and treated fairly by the officers charged with keeping them safe, and we know that trust and confidence among Black communities has declined from already historic lows over the past few years.

A few years ago, I was a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee, then chaired by the Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP, and heard evidence into the progress of policing over the 22 years that had passed since Sir William Macpherson’s seminal report into the murder of Stephen Lawrence. It was clear that policing had come a long way in that time and, in some areas, the relationship with Black communities had been transformed. But the overall impression I was left with was one of piecemeal and painfully slow progress.

That is why I welcome the efforts of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the College of Policing to take a holistic approach to accelerating improvements in this area through the Police Race Action Plan (PRAP). That every Chief Constable has signed up to the PRAP is a significant step forward and I know that many forces have developed local plans to address specific needs from their communities. I am also grateful to the members of the plan’s Independent Scrutiny & Oversight Board and other organisations who have provided a constructive challenge function to their local police services on their ambitions and delivery.

I am conscious that implementing the PRAP has not been without its challenges but I am encouraged by the renewed strategic approach set out in the document. I will hold police leaders to account for delivering the tangible outcomes that policing has committed to, but I will also support them to achieve the PRAP’s aims. In particular, I am keen to work with police leaders and frontline officers on our efforts to strengthen anti-racism training, and to address ongoing disparities, for example, in the use of powers like stop and search and in the misconduct system.

Later this year the Government will also be publishing a White Paper on policing reform, of which an important aspect will be the work we will do with policing to improve culture. Delivering an anti-discriminatory police service will be a key part of that. I look forward to working with policing and wider partners to achieve our aims for a police service where racism and discrimination is a relic of the past, and to deliver the genuine and lasting change that we all want to see in the relationship between the police and Black communities in our country.

I am determined to lead police reform as chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council. At the heart of this reform is making policing an actively anti-discriminatory service. One that tackles discrimination and disparities proactively.

Everyone working or volunteering in policing has a role to challenge discrimination and prejudice in all its forms, whether it is seen in our practice, people or policies. This is essential so that no community feels under-protected or over-policed.

I would like those that have lost respect for policing to be involved and represented in our service and help us change. Policing, including our leadership, needs to be diverse, inclusive and equitable. All of this is necessary for us to earn the confidence of communities, so that we have their support in keeping everyone safe and feeling safe.

Anti-racism is at the heart of this vision. I am proud of what policing has done in its drive to become anti-racist through the Police Race Action Plan (PRAP) over the past three years. Different forces are working tirelessly alongside their local communities to deliver this plan in their area.

I have sat with fellow chief officers brimming with passion and enthusiasm for delivering the change envisaged through the PRAP, enthusiasm which I know our central team has experienced during their own meetings and visits with forces.

We were determined to deliver actions and activity through this plan. Action is what our communities wanted, and we are now beginning to see some lasting change. However, I do know that for many, progress is slow, or experiences are getting worse, not better.

We do not pretend that this plan provides all the answers to decades of struggle for better service from policing. As a programme of change within policing, the PRAP has not been without its challenges.

It is the hardest programme of change I have ever led, and I do not mind admitting that, as I know it has been even more difficult for many colleagues who have stepped forward to work on it.

I know that many of those who are most passionate about this plan believe we have not achieved enough, with frustrations that the fragmented and independent structures in policing have hindered the PRAP’s delivery.

There is a widespread view that we have not delivered tangible change, with less measurable outcomes and improvements to go alongside the considerable amount of activity that has been done. This reflects the feelings from our partners at the National Black Police Association, who fear that the wider landscape for both their members and out in our communities is now worse than when this plan was launched.

Momentum is building, change is happening, but we must now move our focus towards making those longer term changes – and help forces deliver them. My personal test for policing is whether or not we are making communities safer. It is my mission to drive this reform and work alongside Black communities to deliver genuine, tangible change for the long term.

While our anti-racist aspirations extend to all those from ethnic minority and other diverse backgrounds, it is right that this plan continues its focus on Black communities. Because it is the scale of trauma and distrust that generations of people from the Black community feel towards the police that justify this as a top priority for our service.

The PRAP does not operate in isolation. We have seen our service introduce a new code of ethics and tougher vetting standards, reinforcing the high standards of conduct we expect from officers and sending an unambiguous message that racism and other forms of prejudice and discrimination won’t be tolerated.

Huge progress has been made in our policing response to combat violence against women and girls, including bespoke work nationally and in local forces to ensure cultural competency and better quality investigations for victims of Black heritage. All these reforms will deliver benefits to Black communities.

If we can demonstrate our anti-racist principles in building trust and confidence in Black communities, this will benefit all of us. Progress is happening – but we have much more to do and we need everyone’s help to bring about lasting change.

Someone recently said to me that the Police Race Action Plan is the best last chance we have to make genuine change in the relationship between Black communities and the police. It is a chance policing must deliver on.

I am immensely proud of the extraordinary effort and ingenuity that I have seen by officers and staff across the country to drive forward different projects to make ours an anti-racist service. Our central team is working tirelessly to implement this plan, and I have seen similar commitment in so many forces up and down the nation.

I do not want to lose sight of this, and I want to personally commend everyone who has thrown themselves into delivery of the Police Race Action Plan since it was published three years ago.

However, I know the strength of feeling there is about this plan and its shortcomings. Many of our most passionate advocates are frustrated at the slow pace of progress. Five years since it was announced, people are justified to expect the plan to have delivered more than it has.

This is the reason I joined the plan as its director in September 2023. I share the anger and frustration about the pace of our progress. My parents are part of the Windrush generation. I know well their experience and challenges, like many others coming over to the UK, so progress on seeking justice for Black communities is of personal as well as professional importance to me.

However, I cannot change what has gone before. The reason I joined the plan was to shape its future and lead the changes we need to deliver for Black communities. It is imperative that this plan succeeds. There have been too many false dawns, detailed reports and failed reforms. Black communities want to see and feel change.

I know that we will never please everyone, and I will always welcome constructive challenge on our work. But I truly believe the new direction of the plan outlined in this document achieves a key priority I set out when I became director, which is to reshape the Police Race Action Plan into something that directly reflects what our communities want from us to change.

Rigorous, detailed work has gone into shaping what we are presenting. Over the past year we have sat in rooms with Black communities across the country, YouTube influencers, police forces, partner agencies and leading civil society groups to get their views on what the Police Race Action Plan should look like. Much of this feedback is captured in the consultation report we published this summer.

But things like our proposed maturity matrix have been designed to reflect much wider feedback, including addressing the key recommendations in our Independent Scrutiny and Oversight Board’s most recent annual report.

The original plan focused on action and activity, to reflect the need for policing to be seen to be doing something after decades of inaction. This update shifts the plan into a more long term, strategic mission that will ultimately put anti-racism into the DNA of policing.

The Anti-Racism Commitment outlines a clear vision for policing to aspire to in its drive to become anti-racist, outlining values and behaviour which are as relevant to police call handlers and frontline cops as they are to chief constables.

We want to put clear measures in place to track our progress, with details of these proposals having been formed on the basis of extensive consultation with Black communities both in and outside policing. This consultation also highlighted the importance of accountability. The PRAP team is working extensively to develop multiple areas of constructive challenge and oversight, at national and local level.

There are various ways that agencies across law enforcement can be held accountable to deliver this plan – there is no excuse for a failure to deliver the vision we all had when every chief constable signed up to its delivery. We are also building a comprehensive overview of practical products that have been made and delivered to help forces drive forward promising and innovative practice in their local delivery.

I firmly believe that the plan is evolving into what people want from the PRAP, and builds on the positive structures that are in place already to deliver an anti-racism programme for policing. Now though, we must deliver it. I hope you can help us do so, as the plan will undoubtedly have a better chance of success if we all work together.

The Police Race Action Plan for England and Wales is a commitment to fair, effective policing, with a focus on trust, inclusivity, and crime reduction. As we move into the next phase, we will work with forces to embed lasting change locally, ensuring Black and Black heritage communities experience real improvements in policing, particularly in how crime is detected, prevented, and addressed. More than a policy, this plan is a framework for stronger police-community relations and fairer outcomes.

Policing lags behind other public services in attracting Black and Black heritage professionals, and this must change to improve crime-fighting effectiveness. A more diverse police force will enhance intelligence-gathering, increase community cooperation, and strengthen efforts to prevent and solve crimes. While progress may seem slow, the plan prioritises sustainable, long-term transformation over short-lived initiatives. Cultural and institutional shifts take time, and this approach ensures meaningful, lasting impact.

The College of Policing plays a key role in setting standards, improving performance, and developing leaders. Over the past three years, we have revised training, enhanced leadership programmes, addressed disparities in assessment, and researched key issues such as stop and search, community engagement, and evidence-based crime prevention strategies. These efforts underpin policing’s commitment to anti-racism while ensuring that crime detection and prevention remain at the forefront.

Achieving racial equity in policing requires collective effort both within law enforcement and across society. Change will take time, but the commitment remains unwavering. This plan represents a long-term pledge to fairness, effectiveness, and trust while reinforcing the police’s core mission: keeping communities safe by detecting, preventing, and reducing crime for everyone.

The Police Race Action Plan sets out an ambition for a police service that is anti-racist and trusted by Black people. This Anti-Racism Commitment has been developed as an overarching ambition to achieve that goal and builds on the outcome framework that appeared in the first version of the Police Race Action Plan.

It aims to provide the plan with a clear sense of direction and purpose with coherence across the actions. Representatives from policing, partners in the criminal justice system, civil society and communities have given us their views on the commitment and changes have been made based on their feedback. Statements of anti-racism by other public bodies have also informed our commitment.

The commitment aims to set out the goals of an anti-racist police service, describes anti-racism in a policing context, and the action required to achieve it.

The idea is that the Anti-Racism Commitment will provide a legacy for the Police Race Action Plan and create an opportunity for Chief Constables to restate their ongoing support for a police service that is anti-racist and continues to work towards racial equity.

We hope the Anti-Racism Commitment will become a permanent fixture in policing, albeit one that evolves over time as the police service gets better at understanding and responding to the specific needs, circumstances and experiences of individuals and communities.

While the Anti-Racism Commitment is underpinned by insights from research, it deliberately does not include performance measures for monitoring the progress of the police service towards achieving racial equity.

Performance and progress in achieving this will be measured over time through the plan’s maturity matrix - with the Anti-Racism Commitment remaining as a high level set of aspirations and outcomes for policing to deliver.

Read the Anti-Racism Commitment in full

We are currently testing a process that enables police forces to assess their progress against the Anti-Racism Commitment through our new maturity matrix. The maturity matrix will measure a force’s progress in delivering anti-racism through both quantitative – numbers and data driven – performance measures, as well as asking forces to provide narrative on their work on more qualitative performance measures.

The maturity matrix has been developed over several months by the plan’s national team. The standards and what we propose to measure have been directly shaped 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.

The performance measures in the maturity matrix 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.

In our workstream one for culture and workforce, 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.

For our trust and reconciliation workstream, we propose to assess things like community engagement events and strategies to work towards reconciliation with local Black communities for individual police forces. 

Our aim is to publish the maturity matrix assessments and the data that underpins them both internally and externally. Our vision is for force assessments to be moderated and reality tested in each force, peer reviewed by other forces, as well as being consulted on with local Black communities.

The measures and these processes will be tested and piloted over the coming months before being finalised. Even after being finalised, we expect this process to continue to evolve and adapt as necessary over time.

It is Black communities’ experience of policing, not the views of the police, that will judge forces’ maturity.

Read more about the maturity matrix

Our consultation report made clear what communities want – scrutiny and accountability for delivery of the plan. We are developing proposals for achieving this. We are considering the following elements. Many of the agencies referenced below have reinforced their commitment to working with us to deliver an anti-racist police service for this report.

• Joint working with other agencies in the criminal justice system such as the Crown Prosecution Service and the Independent Office for Police Conduct, to maintain a shared focus and drive improvements
• Increased engagement with groups outside policing, including leading national civil society groups
• Regular performance and impact reporting, which will be publicly available
• Alignment of the PRAP with inspections by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services
• Closer working with and oversight from the government
• Ongoing work with the plan’s national Independent Scrutiny and Oversight Board, Community Reference Group and local equivalents
• Work with Police and Crime Commissioners and Mayors to drive awareness and local accountability of the plan and encourage its inclusion in future Police and Crime Plans

You can view the thoughts of various senior leaders below

The Police Race Action Plan is policing’s acknowledgment of the harm they have caused to members of our Black and minority ethnic communities over generations. I am therefore supportive of the PRAP’s ambition to reform the relationship policing has with the public and I am passionate about supporting the NPCC and my own force in West Yorkshire to achieve those aims. We know policing is complex, but having a positive relationship with the communities they serve is critical to the establishment of a police service, rather than a police force.

Addressing and reducing race disparities in policing and criminal justice is a key priority across all Association of Police and Crime Commissioner (APCC) portfolios. To assist Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in meeting their equality duties locally the APCC produces a range of resources, such as its newly updated Race Disparity Toolkit.

This pulls together data and research and provides examples of notable practice from which other PCCs can draw. Examples of notable practice the toolkit highlights include North Wales Police’s quarterly Race Stakeholder Group meetings. Chaired by an ethnic minority member of the PCC’s staff, they provide Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic stakeholders with updates on hate crime and stop and search statistics and a forum via which to share their views on how the area is policed.

A review of scrutiny arrangements by the Humberside PCC led to the creation of a Police Powers Scrutiny Group which considers stop and search and use of force, and a Hate Crime Scrutiny Group. Each has an independent chair and comprises 12 community volunteers ensuring a diverse range of thinking and approaches. Agreements with Humberside Police allow the inclusion of unvetted members of the community so the views of those with lived experience are heard.

In my area of West Yorkshire, the police force invites scrutiny by publishing a range of information, for instance on stop and search by ethnicity, gender and age, and on custody strip search and taser use. The force also discloses workforce data such as rank, grade and progression by ethnicity and gender. As PCCs and Deputy Mayors, we have an important role to play in tackling race disparity locally. By sharing methods that are making a difference, the APCC is helping to spread progress and drive change.

We welcome the progress made on the Police Race Action Plan (PRAP) and acknowledge the developing relationship between civil society groups and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).

The urgency for reform highlighted by Baroness Casey's work and the need to address structural inequalities are shared by us all. We envision a co-produced PRAP that delivers anti-racism and builds trust within our communities.

While progress is acknowledged, we remain cautious. The PRAP's ambition necessitates significant reform, and meaningful change is contingent upon adequate resourcing.

Civil society organisations possess invaluable expertise and lived experience, but we cannot offer our time and skills without sufficient support.

Explicit acknowledgment of this reality is essential: if the NPCC and the Home Office seek our full partnership, they must commit real resources to enable robust engagement.

We are encouraged by discussions around a new, independent oversight and scrutiny forum for the PRAP. This forum would ensure civil society's voice remains central, offering a platform for transparent monitoring and accountability.

However, its success hinges on genuine investment from all stakeholders, particularly the Home Office, which must drive the PRAP forward with clear governance structures and a commitment to holding the NPCC accountable.

Our collective focus is on securing funding and capacity-building support to effectively co-produce and scrutinize the plan. These resources are a key precondition for launching a PRAP that genuinely tackles systemic racism and fosters trust within Black and minority communities.

We look forward to deepening our collaboration with the NPCC and the Home Office, provided there is recognition of the practical needs required to move beyond rhetoric. Together, we can help deliver on the promise of the PRAP — if we ensure the plan is truly resourced for success.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) journey to combat racial disproportionality and bias is an ongoing one of significant importance. We are responsible for deciding whether someone should be charged with the most serious criminal offences. The decisions we make have a profound impact on the lives of victims and defendants and it is vital we hold ourselves to the highest standards of accountability and transparency.

A rigorous programme of research, commissioned by the CPS and overseen by an independent Disproportionality Advisory Group, identified racial disparities in charging decisions and sought to identify the underlying causes. To address this, we have developed an ambitious action plan to tackle the root causes of disproportionality, with the aim of becoming an anti-racist organisation. Some of the key actions include:

• A change to the Code for Crown Prosecutors – to make sure that identifying and addressing bias is considered by prosecutors before a charging decision is made.
• An extensive programme of learning and development, and digital tools to identify bias and support decision making.
• The establishment of a Joint National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) & CPS Race Disproportionality Board to ensure close collaboration with the Police Race Action Plan.

We recognise that there are particular concerns around disparities in prosecutions brought on a joint enterprise basis. We have put in place a monitoring scheme to collect data and enable communities to hold us to account for our approach to joint enterprise prosecutions.

We are unwavering in our resolve to working with stakeholders, including other criminal justice partners to implement the necessary actions to address disproportionality. Achieving fair and proportionate charging decisions is crucial if we are to secure the trust and confidence of the communities we serve.

Additionally, we have established the Anthony Walker Bursary Scheme, which is run in partnership with the National Black Crown Prosecutors Association and the Anthony Walker Foundation, and developed national and local engagement mechanisms to support us in our work to explain our decision making to communities. We’re proud of the inclusive and diverse culture we have at the CPS and that we are one of the most ethnically diverse departments in the Civil Service.

Shifting police culture is no small task. While some progress has been made, the Race Action Plan has been extended by a year to drive meaningful, long-term change.

This extension reflects the reality that progress has been slow, and initial momentum fell short of expectations. Since the plan’s launch in 2020, many - both within and outside policing - report that their experiences have not improved. Some even feel that policing has become more harmful.

Creating an anti-racist police service is not just a commitment; it is an urgent and complex challenge that requires ongoing dedication, investment, and accountability.

Over the next 12 months, the programme must confront institutional resistance and deeply ingrained attitudes that hinder change. It must also provide a clear vision of what success looks like and how it is experienced. As a board responsible for scrutinising the plan, we believe that true success means every individual, regardless of race, gender, or location, experiences policing that is fair, respectful, and safe.

It will be reflected in stronger community relationships, fewer intrusive tactics, and greater trust in law enforcement. Success would, for example, be reflected in reducing the over-criminalisation of young Black men, the under-protection of young Black women, improving the experiences of Black officers and staff within the force, and fostering a police culture that actively upholds and embeds anti-racist principles.

ISOB’s priority is to ensure the plan’s long-term impact, particularly at a local level. We are shifting from monitoring individual actions to assessing how forces will sustain meaningful change beyond 2026. This requires embedding anti-racism into core policing structures so it is not dependent on a single programme but becomes an enduring principle of policing. The creation of the maturity matrix this year is a positive step.

The central team’s priority must be to ensure that it is an effective tool: that it can be used by the public to hold the police to account; that statutory bodies and government can inspect the police against it; and that local forces can and will use internally to implement and monitor progress. In the final year of this plan, we challenge decision-makers to take ownership of this work, ensuring it extends beyond leadership changes, shifting political priorities, or short-term targets. Anti-racism in policing is not an optional agenda - it is a fundamental commitment that must stand the test of time.

Inspecting racial disparity is an important facet of the work HMICFRS carries out. In our 2023 ‘State of Policing’ report, we said “Police leaders also need to be aware that levels of trust and confidence aren’t the same in all communities.

Some communities, and certain demographics, such as Black people and women and girls, are less likely to have trust and confidence in the police. Sometimes, forces may need to target activities towards these groups, especially community engagement. I welcome the efforts of the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing in this respect”.

We made several recommendations in our 2023 inspection report ‘Race and policing: An inspection of race disparity in police criminal justice decision making’, which included the recording of self-defined ethnicity for stop search and use of force. In our PEEL inspections, we still find a lack of data which shows that many forces can’t reassure themselves that the police use of powers isn’t being used disproportionally.

We cover racial disparity in a number of ways in our PEEL programme. We inspect how forces understand and communicate with seldom-heard communities. This element of inspection is central to how forces effectively work with communities. Part of the PEEL inspection framework focuses on how well forces work with the diverse communities they police.

Many forces already have well-established community cohesion or trust and confidence teams in place, which have embraced the Police Race Action Plan in several ways. We have seen strong evidence of chief officer teams introducing specific strategic plans, or adapting strategic community engagement plans, to focus on the key elements of the Police Race Action Plan. In our PEEL inspections, we also inspect how forces create inclusive environments and provide support and progression opportunities for under-represented groups.

We assess how forces make efforts to retain their workforce, with specific consideration to understanding and overcoming challenges faced by those from diverse backgrounds. In some forces we have found a lack of tactical plans to support positive action strategies. And we have found a lack of understanding of the barriers to progression and staff being unaware of the opportunities available.

In our 2023 report on the Criminal Justice Alliance’s super-complaint - Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 and independent community scrutiny of stop and search, we made a series of recommendations which we believe, if implemented, would allow others to better assess whether there are racial disparities in the police use of stop and search. The inspection of racial disparity, and what forces are doing to reduce disparity and increase confidence, will remain central to our inspections for the coming years.

As we approach the first anniversary since the National Community Reference Group (NCRG) was launched, I remain determined to play whatever part I can in successfully delivering the Police Race Action Plan. Personal agendas, political point scoring or giving policing a kicking are of zero interest. Instead, my energy is focussed on delivery, providing a national voice, holding people to account, and making a meaningful difference.

I admire and respect police officers for what they do. It is a tough and at times unforgiving job in a rapidly deteriorating climate, peppered with unexpected activity and demands. However, the overwhelming majority of people I know and work with in the service are decent, hardworking members of our communities who want to improve things for those around them and constantly rise to meet these challenges.

This extends to those I work with on the plan, both the national team and locally where I am based in Kent. There are some great people working to deliver the Police Race Action Plan who have bought into my ideas for change, although risk aversion along with the fear of trying something different can sometimes be an obstacle.

The NCRG, which I chair, has been a big part of that change cycle. I have recruited dozens of members and ambassadors across the country, experts in the fields of academia, law, restorative justice, faith and community work through to former police officers and staff members. I was determined to bring different voices into this group to bring new ideas and fresh perspectives to the plan, and I am glad that their views and opinions have shaped some key things the plan has developed over the past 12 months.

Going forwards, I firmly believe that this plan has a better chance of success than anything that has gone before because of this greater involvement of and insight from communities. However, there is no doubt that more can be done with us to harness our experience and know-how. It still frustrates me that so many people both in and outside policing don’t know about the Police Race Action Plan. There is a huge amount more that could be done around community engagement and raising awareness if the will and resources were put behind it.

Which leads me to the overall approach. I welcome this new shape of the plan. Monitoring performance is important, and I know this plan must develop ways to achieve further buy-in from more than a few committed individuals in forces, as well as hold chief officers to account for failing to deliver.

However, of even more importance is how the plan makes people feel. Personally, I want the plan to focus on landing its message through educating as opposed to lecturing, empathy as opposed to sympathy, and shared responsibility with accountability as we strive to take this journey of changing the service’s culture for the better.

Our unique position, having oversight of the police complaints system, plays a vital role in challenging racial discrimination. We use the evidence from our cases to drive improvements in police policy and practice through learning and accountability. In November 2024 we released three important pieces of work on discrimination: our updated guidelines to improve the handling of discrimination complaints, a toolkit to support complaint handlers and our Race Discrimination Report.

This package of publications helps policing, particularly with the more nuanced forms of discrimination, and is the culmination of more than three years of work and over 300 cases analysed.

Matters involving discrimination undermine public confidence in policing and the police complaints system. We acknowledge the efforts across policing to address racial disparities, tackle discrimination and improve the handling of related complaints. While progress has been made, there is still more work to be done. This is evident from our work, the work of others, the statistics surrounding disproportionality and from what communities tell us.

The IOPC is calling for focused and measurable change to address racial disparities, safeguard children from adultification during police interactions and ensure discrimination complaints are handled effectively.

We want to ensure that everyone, regardless of race or ethnicity, feels protected and respected, has a service that meets their needs and enables the police to perform their duties effectively.

We are committed to working with stakeholders so that everyone has trust and confidence in both policing and the police complaints system.

We welcome the Police Race Action Plan and the commitment of all chief constables to deliver an anti-racist and anti-discriminatory service and foster a workplace that upholds these principles.

The National Black Police Association (NBPA) acknowledges the progress made under the Police Race Action Plan (PRAP) over the last four years but remains deeply concerned about its overall impact on Black communities and our members.

Despite initial collaboration and goodwill, the plan has yet to meet its fundamental aims of addressing systemic racism, improving the working environment for Black officers and staff, and building trust with Black communities.

Key issues, such as the disproportionality in misconduct cases, recruitment, and progression for Black officers, persist. The NBPA’s view is that PRAP lacks accountability mechanisms and remains disconnected from the local policing context, with implementation varying widely across forces. This inconsistency undermines the plan's credibility and ability to drive meaningful change.

The NBPA has re-engaged with the plan on an interim basis, but our scepticism remains high. To move forward effectively, we believe the following steps are essential:

Publicly available data set: A comprehensive and transparent dataset must be developed to capture systemic racial disparities in policing, including recruitment, retention, misconduct, and use of police powers. This data must be published in a format accessible to the public, showcasing both progress and areas requiring urgent improvement.

Stronger independent oversight: Robust and independent oversight must be established through an expanded and empowered scrutiny board, coordinated by the Home Office. This body should include the NBPA and other society organisations, ensuring external pressure and accountability to drive reform.

Support for NBPA leadership: The NBPA Cabinet and local association chairs require dedicated time and resources to adequately support members and contribute to PRAP’s development. Increasing capacity at both national and local levels will enable us to better address issues such as racial disproportionality and provide critical guidance to policing.

The NBPA stands ready to work collaboratively with police leaders, the Home Office, and civic organisations. However, the next 12 months will be pivotal in determining whether PRAP can deliver the fundamental changes needed. Without greater transparency, accountability, and support, the opportunity to create lasting improvements risks being lost.