May 10, 2004: Diversity and Race Equality - Update

The Home Office published two reports today (May 10, 2004) evaluating developments in promoting diversity and race equality among its staff.

The key findings of the 2003 annual report on the Home Secretary’s Race Equality Employment Targets are as follows:

1. The police, prison and probation services all increased the proportion of minority ethnic staff, as did the Immigration Service.
2. The Home Office itself has exceeded its 2004 target of 25 per cent representation of minority ethnic staff, with the current total standing at 31.1 per cent.
3. In the Immigration & Nationality Directorate, of the candidates for recruitment who declared their ethnicity, 33 per cent of successful candidates were from ethnic minority groups.
4. The percentage of minority ethnic staff at senior civil servant level is 3.8 per cent, exceeding the target set for 2009, and meeting the Cabinet Office’s target.

The key findings of the 2002-3 Employment Monitoring report under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 are:

1. Of the 76 per cent of Home Office staff covered by the survey, 19 per cent were from ethnic minorities. Of the 48 per cent of IND staff covered by the survey, 27 per cent were from minority ethnic groups.
2.  In the Home Office, the proportion of staff leaving is comparable between white and minority ethnic staff (14 per cent and 13 per cent respectively).