A £200,000 action plan aiming to encourage people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds to go for council jobs has been approved.
A £200,000 action plan aiming to encourage people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds to go for council jobs has been approved.
Members signed off the two-year plan, which aims to increase the number of BME and disabled employees at the council, at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday last week.
“It’s very difficult to change a work force,” said leader Cllr Darren Rodwell, who cited the council’s recent employment of its first female refuse truck driver as a step in the right direction.
The detailed report showed a high proportion of women at the council (60.7 per cent of over 3,500 employees), although over half (32.67pc) work part time.
There was a slight overall overall rise in BME employees from 2013 to 2014, with variations over different pay grades. However, while white residents account for just over half of the borough (53.9pc), a much higher percentage of council staff are white (71.59pc).
The action plan includes better advertising for positions and working with schools and colleges to promote council careers.
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