PSO 2800 - Inside Time

PSO 2800 Annexes – Page 33Nothe function, policy or practice does not allow staff to exercise discretion in the way it is implemented and thereis no possibility of differential treatmentUse this space to record your findingsGuidance on “Discretion”What does “to exercise discretion” mean?The CRE said in the report of their Formal Investigation into the Prison Service:“It is a general rule that where a system contains greater potential for discretion in decision taking by individualmanagers or individual staff, then there is a greater potential for inconsistent and even discriminatory outcomes[for prisoners, visitors or staff], whether intended or not”.They found that prison staff exercised considerable discretion in carrying out their duties and that thisdiscretion was not adequately managed or monitored by prison managements [locally in establishments].Furthermore, this exercise of discretion led to differential treatment of prisoners 2 .They gave a number of helpful examples of where the use of discretion had a detrimental impact on Black andMinority Ethnic prisoners (these are examples. The list is not exhaustive – it is designed to help you thinkabout whether the same applies to the function, policy or practice being considered):Black prisoners appeared to have been more likely to be targeted for “suspicion” drugs testing thanwhite prisoners;Black prisoners more likely to be subject to the disciplinary system;Black prisoners more likely to be on the basic level in Incentives and Earned Privileges Schemes.The following examples are not taken from the CRE Report but are further examples which could affect staffand visitors:Black and minority ethnic staff being more likely to be subjected to the Attendance Managementprocedures than white staff;The assumption that black and minority ethnic visitors to establishments will be visiting a prisonerrather than in a professional capacity. This will, in turn have an affect on how they could be treated oncoming into a prison.On the surface a function, policy or practice can appear to be free of any racial bias but the way it is interpretedcould lead to discrimination in the way that it is applied.You need to ask yourself, therefore, if the function, policy or practice or the system you are putting in placeallows for either managers or staff to apply it in a way that could have a differential impact on any racial group.If that is the case, you must undertake a full impact assessment and you will need to discuss options foraddressing this. Two areas for possible solution are:2 see “Failure Area 5: Control of the use of discretion”; CRE Report; Part 2 published 15 December 2003.Issue No. 264 issue date 25/09/06