£200k action plan to increase BME employees at council

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.