Thames Valley Police (TVP) serves one of the most diverse regions in the UK, policing urban, rural and culturally rich communities across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Like policing nationally, TVP has had to confront challenging questions around trust, confidence, representation and disproportionality affecting ethnic minority communities. These challenges required honest reflection, meaningful engagement and a commitment to turning intent into action.

The National Police Race Action Plan was established in 2020 to support forces in improving policing for Black communities, building trust and confidence, and enhancing operational effectiveness. Recognising local needs, TVP expanded this focus to include all minority ethnic communities and, following extensive internal and external consultation, published its public-facing Race Action Plan 23–26 in Feb 2024.

Building credibility with communities that have historically experienced underrepresentation and disproportionality requires transparency, accountability and sustained commitment. TVP recognised that confidence would only increase if communities could see tangible evidence, not a tick-box exercise, but a genuine commitment to change. As a result, race equality was embedded across leadership, decision-making, workforce development, recruitment, progression, community engagement and service delivery.

The Race Action Plan was built around key workstreams:

Represented increasing workforce representation, retention and progression.

Respected promoting fairness, dignity and reducing disproportionality.

Involved strengthening community engagement and influence in policing.

Protected improving outcomes and ensuring equitable service delivery.

These pillars provided a framework for change and enabled focus on internal culture and external community trust. While initial activity recognised that racial disparities affecting Black communities were often the most acute, the force adopted a broader and longer-term ambition to improve outcomes for all minority ethnic communities.

One of the programme’s greatest achievements has been the creation of a robust governance and delivery framework. Annual Delivery Plans established clear priorities, measurable objectives and accountability structures, ensuring progress could be tracked and scrutinised. Independent oversight and community challenge helped move the organisation beyond aspiration and created a sustainable mechanism for long-term change.

Listening and learning remained at the heart of delivery. Community consultation, engagement events, feedback mechanisms and ongoing dialogue helped shape priorities and strengthen confidence that lived experiences were influencing policing practice and decision-making.

Perhaps, the main achievement was to ensured race equality became everyone’s responsibility, rather than the responsibility of a single team. Senior leaders championed the programme, supported by colleagues across operational policing, corporate services, staff support networks and community partnerships. This collective ownership helped embed inclusion throughout the organisation and drive lasting cultural change.

The impact of the Plan extends well beyond the programme itself. In April 2025, TVP launched its five-year Trust and Confidence Strategy, adopting the same four pillars of Represented, Respected, Involved and Protected. This ensures that race equality remains embedded within organisational governance, culture and service delivery and provides a long-term framework for sustaining progress.

The strategy aligns closely with the National Policing Culture and Inclusion Strategy 2025–2030, which sets the vision for policing to have a representative workforce and to be a trusted profession demonstrating fairness, integrity and respect towards both colleagues and the public.

Perhaps the greatest achievement has been shifting the conversation from compliance to culture change. The Plan has created a platform for meaningful action, accountability and continuous improvement, positioning race equality as a strategic priority that strengthens operational effectiveness, workforce wellbeing and public trust.

While TVP recognises there is still more to do, significant progress has been made in building the foundations for lasting change. The organisation remains committed to listening, learning and improving, ensuring inclusion is embedded across everything it does and that all communities can have confidence they will be treated fairly, with dignity, respect and understanding.