In line with our Equality Diversity and Good Relations Strategy we are committed to applying further screening to all new and revised policy were the policy or proposal is likely to have a significant or major impact in relation to the Equality of Opportunity or the Promotion of Good Relations across the 9 Section 75 categories.
This more detailed screening is called an Equality Impact Assessment or EQIA.
This consultation contains information in relation to the Police Service of Northern Ireland's use of Spit and Bite Guards, first introduced in March 2020 with the aim of protecting police officers and staff against spitting or biting acts that can result in injury, infection or psychological impacts.
As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated potential dangers for officers and staff who deal operationally with persons who may spit or bite, in March 2020 the Chief Constable made a decision to temporarily issue Spit and Bite Guards to Covid-19 response teams, custody staff, Armed Response Units and cell van crews. This provided a high degree of reassurance to officers and staff. In January 2021 Spit and Bite Guards were further rolled out to all frontline police officers.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland is considering a permanent Spit and Bite Guard rollout beyond a Covid-19 policing environment. An Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) has been commenced to gauge public reaction to using Spit and Bite Guards on a permanent basis and the aspiration is that this EQIA will form the rationale for continued use.
This EQIA examines the likely impact of Spit and Bite Guards on the nine categories of people set out in Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. The EQIA exercise was considered necessary as it is accepted from assessments and recent usage reports that a large proportion of those who engage in this type of anti-social behaviour tend to be younger males therefore the permanent use of Spit and Bite Guards will have an adverse impact on certain protected groups. This public consultation and EQIA will help the Police Service of Northern Ireland assess how this impact can or might be reduced against those protected groups, introducing an alternative policy to lessen the effect and promote equality of opportunity and good relations.
View or download the Spit and Bite Guards Equality Impact Assessment Document
View or download the Spit and Bite Guards Equality Impact Assessment Consultation Questionnaire
The final Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) report on the use of Spit and Bite Guards by the Police Service of Northern Ireland is available to view via the link below. This report represents an assessment of the impact of the continued use of Spit and Bite Guards on the 9 protected Section 75 groups.
View or download the Spit and Bite Guards Equality Impact Assessment Final Report
There will be a short delay to the publication of Stage 7 of the EQIA on the use of Spit and Bite Guards. Stage 7 refers to “monitoring for adverse impact in the future and publication of the results of such monitoring."
View or download the Use of Spit and Bite Guards Interim EQIA Stage 7 Data
Hard copies of this consultation document and copies in other formats, including Braille, large print etc., can be made available upon request. If you require an alternative format or a language other than English, please let us know and we will do our best to assist you. If you require any further information on the consultation process or the content of this document, or any other assistance to make a response, please contact the department.
We can be contacted using the details provided below:
By email: [email protected]
In writing:
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Human Resources
Lisnasharragh PSNI
42 Montgomery Road
Belfast
BT6 9HL
Please note, this consultation ran for a 12 week period from Monday 1st March 2021 to Monday 24th May.
The consultation period has now closed and a number of submissions have been received by the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
A formal report summarising the results is now being prepared for the Chief Constable. This report will be tabled at a forthcoming board within the Service after which the results of the consultation will be published.
This consultation contains information in relation to the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s (PSNI) Physical Competence Assessment (PCA) which is currently used to assess the role specific physical ability of individuals within Police Officer Recruitment, Specialist Unit Pre-appointment Selection Processes and In-service Assessments. Consequently, it is seeking views on a series of recommendations relating to the PCAs.
This Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) examines the likely impact of Physical Competence Assessments (PCAs) on the nine categories of people set out in Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. The exercise was considered necessary as there was some consensus that there was potential for differential impact on the basis of gender. The evidence presented within the Physical Competence Assessment Equality Impact Assessment concludes that PSNI could operate without any adverse differential impacts or indirect discrimination subject to the implementation of the mitigations. The document identifies a series of recommendations to manage the potential risks identified during the analysis.
Download the Physical Competence Assessment - Equality Impact Assessment Document
Download the Physical Competence Assessment - Equality Impact Assessment Consultation Questionnaire
Hard copies of this consultation document and copies in other formats, including Braille, large print etc., can be made available upon request. If you require an alternative format or a language other than English, please let us know and we will do our best to assist you. If you require any further information on the consultation process or the content of this document, or any other assistance to make a response, please contact the Department.
We can be contacted using the details provided below:
By Phone: 07929172635
By Email: [email protected]
In writing:
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Human Resources
Lisnasharragh PSNI
42 Montgomery Road
Belfast
BT6 9HL
Please note, the consultation will run for a twelve week period from Friday 4th December 2020 to Friday 26th February 2021.
The Police Service of Northern's overarching aim is to Keep People Safe through the Policing with the Community. PSNI Vetting Procedures are designed to support and embed this strategy to gain the confidence of the whole community in the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
Vetting exists to protect the Police Service, its assets and data from persons and organisations, both internal and external, which may cause harm or detract from our central purpose, vision and values. It is the aim of vetting to provide an appropriate level of assurance as to the trustworthiness, integrity and probable reliability of all staff and non-police personnel working within the Police estate.
Vetting determinations are made with full cognisance taken of the impact of our decision making; we treat individuals from whatever background with courtesy, fairness and respect. Vetting Procedures are currently under review. We have reached the public consultation stage of the EQIA in relation to this review, and, as such, are keen to hear your views during this formal consultation period which will run from 8th June 2015 to 28th August 2015.
In compliance with Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act, 1998, the PSNI is committed to carrying out an EQIA on each policy where screening indicates that there may be significant implications in relation to one or more of the nine Section 75 characteristics.
PSNI aims to have a workforce that is representative of the society it serves and on this basis, identified the requirement to retrospectively assess the equality impact of key events and decisions that have had an effect on the PSNI workforce. This assessment was undertaken as part of the programme of work to identify and develop a workforce plan for the PSNI and in accordance with a commitment given by the PSNI in November 2012 to the Northern Ireland Public Accounts Committee.
The PSNI Workforce Plan aims to deliver the optimum workforce requirements in terms of people within the PSNI as well as managed services, to deliver the policing service to the people of Northern Ireland with a specific focus on:
In simple terms, the strategic aim of the Workforce Plan is to have officers and staff available in the right numbers, in the right places, and doing the right things at the right times to deliver efficient and effective policing in a manner that best meets the needs of local communities and the people of Northern Ireland.
EQIA Workforce Plan - February 2015 (PDF, 1.0 MB)
Public Consultation:
In February 2015, the PSNI released the draft EQIA report for public consultation. PSNI placed public notices in The Irish News, The Newsletter and The Belfast Telegraph and also promoted the EQIA on the PSNI website, Facebook profile and Twitter account. In addition, PSNI emailed all consultees within the PSNI Equality, Diversity and Good Relations Strategy, 2012 -2017.
Three responses were received in respect of this public consultation from Sinn Féin, Disability Action and Northern Ireland Policing Board.
Summary of Responses:
PSNI welcomed the feedback received as part of this consultation process - please see attached summary of the comments submitted by Sinn Féin, Disability Action and Northern Ireland Policing Board and the PSNI responses to the feedback received.
Speedy Justice aims to:
The three responses together provide a detailed examination of the form and content of the EQIA, and the underlying policy. The time and effort which has been taken to deal with these complex issues by consultees is much appreciated.
In addition to this, on two occasions the Police Service met with a number of interested parties (NI Children’s Commissioner; Children’s Law Centre; Include Youth; the relevant Trade Associations; NI Retail Consortium and the Northern Ireland Policing Board to look at a number of issues that were raised. Whilst the Trade Associations fully support the Test Purchase of Alcohol Scheme, those organisations representing children and young people continued to highlight their fears. However, at the second meeting, whilst still expressing their concerns, they also acknowledged the measures that we had put in place in order to protect the welfare and safety of the young people. We also provided the Performance Committee of the Northern Ireland Policing Board with a comprehensive briefing on the Scheme which was well received by its Members.
We genuinely value the suggestions made which have allowed for further improvements to the policy guidelines, as detailed above.
Police and partners look to a range of tactics to counter the risk created by underage drinking by young people. Many of these have proven to be very effective and are likely to continue to be so in the future. Within this context, the use of test purchasing is not identified as being necessary in the majority of cases. Whilst we are content that we can conduct the operations safely, they are very resource intensive and do not necessarily deliver any better results than the other tactics outlined.
As outlined in Part 1, the Test Purchase of Alcohol Scheme has been suspended since 2012.
As a result, following the EQIA, it was decided that a Paper should be submitted to the Service Executive Board (SEB) in order to seek a decision in relation to the re-introduction of the Scheme.
This was subsequently considered by SEB Members at their meeting on 19 October 2016. Members discussed the benefits of re-introducing this scheme and the effect it may have on underage alcohol consumption.
Members discussed the impact of using young person in any such operations and the perception of this within some communities. Head of Legal Services stated that it would be highly unlikely that these young persons could be called to evidence in court to aid a prosecution.
ACC District Policing stated that there were a number of different strategies to deal with how underage children obtain alcohol. The resources and procedures to carry out any such Test Purchasing operation were discussed and on balance not considered proportionate.
Members decided that approval was not given to re-commence the Test Purchase of Alcohol Scheme.
