Casey review: Disability discrimination most frequent claim brought against Met police

Baroness Louise Casey’s review laid bare in more than 300 pages a series of grave concerns about the Metropolitan Police’s culture and standards, ITV News' Sejal KariaI reports

Claims for disability discrimination are the most frequent type brought against the Metropolitan Police, a blistering review of the force has found.

The Casey review said that disability was the most recurrent type of tribunal claim brought against Britain's biggest force between 2017-18 and 2021-22, with 120 claims listing it as the single issue in the action and 238 claims being brought alongside other issues.

In comparison, over the same period there were 24 claims listing race discrimination as the single issue in the tribunal claim, with 195 brought alongside other issues.

There were 25 single issue sex discrimination claims, with 106 having been brought alongside other issues.

"The number of Employment Tribunal claims brought by people with disabilities is striking," the report reads.

"The Met has not shown sufficient curiosity as to why this apparent pattern has emerged, and what if anything they could learn from it. This is a source of frustration to people with disabilities in the Met."

There was no willingness to learn from the disability claims brought against the Met, according to the report, which suggested that there was a "wider toxic or bullying culture" within the force that needed to be reformed.

ITV News Correspondent John Ray speaks to those who believe the Met needs to embark on urgent reforms to better serve the communities it is meant to protect, and all officers within its ranks

The Casey report, published on Tuesday, also found that 33% of those with a long-standing illness, disability or infirmity have experienced bullying.

Baroness Louise Casey’s review, commissioned in the wake of Sarah Everard’s murder, laid bare in more than 300 pages a series of grave concerns about the Metropolitan Police’s culture and standards.

The damning review found the Met was institutionally racist, misogynist and homophobic.

The force failed to protect the public from police officers who abuse women, organisational changes have put women and children at greater risk, and female officers and staff routinely experience sexism, the report said.

There are racist officers and staff in the force and a "deep-seated homophobia" exists in the organisation, it found.

The report also found there is “declining public confidence and trust in the institution” and said problems including austerity, changes in crime and a disciplinary system that makes it “difficult to get rid of people who corrupt the Met’s integrity” have “eroded frontline policing”.

The report called for a “complete overhaul” of the Met and a “new approach to restore public trust and confidence”. The review made 16 recommendations and said the changes need to be made by the Met, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime and the Home Office to “create a radically improved new London Metropolitan Police Service”. The reforms are of a “significant scale” and “on a par” with the “transformation of the Royal Ulster Constabulary to the Police Service of Northern Ireland” at the end of the last century. If the force does not reform, it could face being broken up in future, Baroness Casey said.

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