ANNEX D D. EMPLOYMENT
Presenters: Amer Bokhari, National Probation Service Lancashire Mohamed Ravat, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service Mebs Ahmed, Lancashire Constabulary Jameel Murtza, Lancashire Constabulary
Brief Report on the workshop:
The group attending the workshop represented a cross section of the community and several criminal justice agencies. It was evident that the group felt the representation of the 3 services facilitating the workshop showed a commitment to valuing diversity by means of creating community awareness of the services in a collective manner.
The workshop looked primarily at the benefits of working together and the strategies that had been put in place to gain recognition within the BME communities across Lancashire. The scene was set by looking at why the services needed to look at under-representation and how it could be tackled (please see attached notes and slides).
Issues that were raised in the workshop were:
1. Why doesn’t the Race Issues Group in Lancashire make the concept of the probation, fire and police partnership a more wider participating network, ie use this model as that of best practice?
2. Why is it that certain services do not have specialist persons in post that can work within the communities to promote their services?
3. How can effective links with the BME communities be sustained?
The facilitators tackled these issues in a very interactive way with the group and the following suggestions were noted:
1. The criminal justice system needed to look at its member organisations and tackle the issue of BME recruitment by appointing specialist personnel who could effectively engage with the communities. What seemed to be happening at the moment was that this role had become an “add on” to other roles within the respective services.
2. The partnership between the 3 services needed to be recognised as a model of best practice and used by other services.
3. Regular events needed to be held where the local BME communities were made aware of changes within the services and also what recruitment drive was taking place.
A key issue that was highlighted throughout the workshop was that of resources and this was an issue across the criminal justice system. It seemed that financial constraints restricted the services from being more proactive within the communities and sometimes key events were not attended for this reason. It was important that if under-representation was to be tackled then more resources needed to be made available. The workshop was thoroughly enjoyed by the group and the facilitators.
Finally a special thanks to the Fire Service and Lancashire Constabulary for their attendance and the hard work they put into making the workshop a success. Employment Workshop – 12 December 2002
Targets
Why are targets set – Aims and Objectives
Benefits of recruiting BME
Tackle under-representation Increase trust and confidence Service delivery
How do we tackle under-representation?
Consultation
Experts – internal and external Religious establishments, community representatives includes youths, parents and elders Minorities within minorities (black Chinese and women) Educational establishments – schools, colleges and universities Employment agencies JobCentre Plus – Blackburn with Darwen Employment and Diversity Partnership (being used as best practice model) Action for Jobs – mosque visits with wagon Career guidance outlets – Connexion Local borough councils including Access Points Voluntary sector – BIPs, PIPs, Foxton Centre, Ngazu Saba Centre, Connecting Communities
Implementation
Initiatives for recruitment – short/medium/long term
Short term:
Work with already suitable candidates Positive action
Medium term:
Outreach work Tackle negative perceptions Target colleges and universities
Long term:
All of the above plus schools Marketing strategy – minority media – publications/radio/newsletters/other specialist Group has membership of key focus groups Partnership marketing at all outlets that we consult with Partnerships internal networks – newsletters, informal/formal channels Careers fairs – schools/colleges/universities Community events – religious festivals/melas/Diwali/carnival Sporting events – both through association and participation Workshops/seminars Open days Presentations – schools/colleges/universities Surgeries Access to uniformed services course Other partnerships
Main benefits of working together
Share information/best practice Share costs System of referrals
What allows us to work together?
Trust and confidence in each partner organisation and individuals Call upon vast range of skills and experience of partnership members Friends as well as work colleagues (sometimes)
Problems
Limited resources – in financial terms and bodies
Contact Details
LANCASHIRE CONSTABULARY
Jameel Murtza & Mebs Ahmed Tel: 01772 410334 E-mail: [email protected]
LANCASHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE
Mohamed Ravat Tel: 01772 866791 E-mail: [email protected]
NATIONAL PROBATION SERVICE
Amer Bokhari Tel: 01772 256630 E-mail: [email protected]
Strap line – “Working together making a difference”