What actually is Positive Action?

What is fact and what is fiction about Positive Action within our constabulary?

What is Positive Action?

Section 158 and 159 of the Equality Act 2010 enables us as an organisation to address disproportionate representation within an organisation. The Act seeks to promote equality of opportunity and inclusion. It provides a number of lawful steps that can be taken to minimise disadvantages faced by underrepresented groups or to support employers to meet their needs. Ensuring our constabularies are equitable not just equal.

Why do we need it?

Positive Action enables us to recruit a wider pool of talented people making us more representative of the communities we serve. It will help us to build better trust, confidence and strengthen engagement with the public. This is about being more effective in protecting our communities from harm and build on our existing achievements protecting vulnerable people and bringing criminals to justice.

Positive Action enables us to be a more transparent organisation who value difference and promote diversity within our workforce.

Positive action is really important for us as an organisation, understanding the disadvantages that some underrepresented groups face and putting in practises for support is paramount to our strategic equality, diversity and inclusivity ambitions.

But what about positive discrimination?

Positive action is sometimes confused with positive discrimination. Positive discrimination would mean individuals are recruited or promoted solely based on them identifying with a protected characteristic, whilst positive action is the described levelling of the playing field for candidates from unrepresented groups facing disadvantages.

How does positive action work with the Constabularies overall DEI offering?

The constabularies positive action work should blend into our commitment to delivering a more diverse and inclusive police force that truly represents our communities, the use of positive action initiatives should help those underrepresented across our Organisation. Our positive action team are working hard to promote DEI throughout the Constabularies and County, trying to push the Constabularies as equitable and inclusive employers.

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To find out more about what constitutes positive action and some information on the Constabulary’s offering around positive action, have a look at the Why Diversity Matters Info Pack.