The Police Pagan Association is really proud to announce that we have achieved a massive breakthrough on behalf of our Pagan communities that will have far-reaching implications that will change how Paganism is perceived and recorded nationally.
I am in a privileged position as a national chair for a police DSSA where I can use my access to the highest levels of agencies such as the Home Office, the National Police Chiefs Council and the College of Policing to influence change at a national level.
Towards the end of 2021 the College of Policing was tasked by the Home Office to carry out a review of the National Standard for Recording Workforce Data Information. This was primarily around enhancing how police forces accurately recorded the diversity of their workforces and those they are recruiting – some of you may know that I’ve been an equality & diversity champion for Hertfordshire Constabulary for many years, and am also the Positive Action Recruitment & Retention lead currently.
I used this opportunity to submit a business case to have Paganism recognised as a faith in its own right in all government data systems; the letter attached contains many of the points I made – especially that the Police Pagan Association was the only staff support association that represented a characteristic still defined as ‘other’ (i.e., when choosing a faith when reporting a crime, applying for a job etc. Pagans would have to select ‘other’, and where not always provided an option to define their faith).
I cannot reiterate how significant this business case was, as it had far-reaching implications that extended beyond policing. If accepted as a faith, recordable in its own right, it would not simply mean that police systems would have to include Pagan in their drop-down menus…
This review is national because it seeks to standardise ALL data systems used by the government and government agencies, therefore if Paganism was accepted as a faith in its own right it would be incorporated into systems such as PNC, Home Office statistical data, ONS data systems (including the new format for the Census) AND local police data systems for recording crimes, applications and workforce data.
I am delighted to announce that after several months of campaigning and with support from the amazing Stuart at the College of Policing, that Paganism will be recorded as a faith in its own right under the new Workforce Recording Data Standards. The list of recordable faiths will therefore be:
- No Religion
- Christian
- Buddhist
- Hindu
- Jewish
- Muslim
- Pagan
- Sikh
- Any Other Religion
The new data standards will form the basis of for all national systems from March 2023, with agencies and constabularies expected to implement the standards on their local systems by the end of 2023.
This is a massive step towards the validation and profile of Paganism as a faith in this country, and will raise awareness of those agencies yet to record or recognise it; it will contribute to additional engagement by agencies who will now be obliged to recognise and accommodate Paganism in their daily business, and will contribute to the removal of the stigma that still permeates Paganism.