INDEPENDENT CUSTODY VISITING

EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Area of Assessment	Independent Custody Visiting (ICV) Scheme - Surrey
Date of Assessment	April 2024
Owner	Erika Dallinger, ICV Scheme Manager
INDEPENDENT CUSTODY VISITING SCHEME BACKGROUND
Briefly describe the aims, objectives and outcomes of the scheme:
Independent Custody Visiting is a national requirement, detailed in a Home Office Code of Practice and supported by the Independent Custody Visiting Association (ICVA), whereby specially trained members of the public make random and unannounced visits to custody suites to check on the welfare of detainees and the conditions they are being held in. Locally, Independent Custody Visiting is under the remit of the Police and Crime Commissioner who has authority for running and maintaining the scheme in their force area. Independent Custody Visiting provides protection to detainees and the police, and reassurance to the wider community. Volunteers from Independent Custody Visiting (ICV) Schemes across the UK independently check on the welfare of detainees who may be feeling vulnerable or confused, providing independent scrutiny of their treatment and the conditions in which they are being held. Independent Custody Visiting Schemes exist to provide reassurance to local communities that they can have confidence in the way in which the police treat people who are held in their custody. Independent Custody Visiting allows the police to demonstrate their commitment to transparency and provides public reassurance that policing in their area is fair and in accordance with statutory legislation and guidance.
EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT
How representative of the Surrey’s population are the ICVS volunteers? Is there a plan to encourage more participation from under-represented groups as existing members leave, or any other efforts to recruit people from different parts of the community?
ICVs are independent volunteers and must have no direct involvement in the criminal justice system. They come from a variety of backgrounds, must be over 18 and live or work within the Surrey Police area. During 2022/23, 44 people volunteered their time to the scheme, with 39 active Independent Custody Visitors working within Surrey at the end of the year. The current volunteer demographic is broadly in line with the general Surrey population (as reported in the 2011 Census) with 8% of all volunteers come from a known BME or Non-British background. Our volunteers are 58% female, 42% male. The census data from 2011 shows within Surrey, 51% of the entire 1,132,000 population is female, 49% male. The average age is currently 63 years old. The Scheme welcomes applications from individuals of all backgrounds who are keen to contribute to this important area of policing. The Scheme works in conjunction (and with advice from) Race and Inclusion Portfolio of Surrey Police in reaching out to under represented groups. It is worth noting that on an average year, only 3 new volunteers are recruited annually.
Is protected characteristic data from visits recorded anywhere, including any emerging issues or best practice so this can be analysed for patterns? (What equality-related data is collected from visits, and how is it used?)
The outcome from all visits is recorded electronically to allow thorough data analysis. These report forms are very detailed looking at all aspects of a detainees stay and ICVs will record Custody’s care for any protected characteristics on them. Explicitly, ICVs record race and identity data which is proactively examined to ensure that all groups interact with ICVs in the same way.
Do volunteers need any more training? Is their knowledge-level broadly understood so gaps can be identified and acted on?
All volunteers are trained on understanding the Public Sector Equality Duty and receive equalities related training at both a local level (eg annual training days and events – a recent one was on Race) and national, having full access to the Independent Custody Visiting Associations (ICVA) vast array of resources on this area. ICV Resources - ICVA
Would it be useful for ICVS volunteers to have a checklist of things to go through?
ICVs are fully trained to understand what they need to look for in custody to meet the Home Office Code of Practice (2013) for custody visiting. Checklists are already available for ICVs to use to ensure they are checking on compliance with: The Police & Criminal Evidence Act 1984. The European Convention on Human Rights 2000. The Police Reform Act 2002. Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) 2002 Public Sector Equality Duty ICV-Visits-Basic-Checklist.pdf (icva.org.uk) Surrey’s ICV Scheme has been assessed as Platinum by ICVA in their Quality Assurance Framework, the highest level possible (2023). This shows Surrey’s commitment to run a scheme exceeding all basic requirements and deliver exceptional training, inclusion and oversight.
Impact Assessed by:	Erika Dallinger, ICV Scheme Manager	Date:	24/4/24
Approved by:	Sailesh	Date:	23/05/24