Communities and Local Government
A selection of images representing communities.
Direct contact 020 7944 4400- contactus@communities.gov.uk
Employment
Ethnic minorities experience varying levels of disadvantage in employment. The gap between the employment rate of ethnic minorities and the rest of the population is around 14 percentage points and weekly earnings for many ethnic minority groups are considerably lower than their white counterparts.
Communities and Local Government is a member of the cross-departmental Task Force on Ethnic Minorities in the Labour Market, which is chaired by the Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform at the Department for Work and Pensions. The Task Force is responsible for implementing the recommendations of the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit report on Ethnic Minorities and the Labour Market.
The Task Force is also considering how it can ensure that it delivers real change in the employment prospects for ethnic minorities. It focuses on a number of cross departmental priorities, including improving equality in the workplace through public procurement, engaging employers on the business case for equality, ensuring ethnic minority communities benefit from the employment opportunities from the 2012 Olympic and Para Olympic Games and helping employment programmes such as the city strategy to focus effectively on helping ethnic minorities.
The Business Commission
The National Employment Panel's Business Commission report 60/76 (external link) sets out a number of recommendations aimed at encouraging private sector employers to put in place effective systems to attract and retain ethnic minority staff.
Cohesion
High levels of unemployment and variations in job opportunities can have a detrimental impact in building cohesion. Disparity in the levels of employment between varying groups can also breed resentment between different communities. Local authorities, leaning and skills councils and the Employment Service should be engaged in developing equal access to employment for all sections of the community.
