What can be done to tackle the continuing barriers to fair employment in Britain?

Anthony HeathOxford and Manchester Universities

Britain can be proud of its record in tackling discrimination

• 1965 and 1968 Race Relations Acts• 1976 Race Relations Act• 2000 Race Relations (Amendment) Act• 2006 Racial and Religious Hatred Act• 2006 Equality Act• 2010 Equality ActBut they have not been sufficient – new initiatives are needed

Wider array of ‘fair employment’ policies needed to address all sources of ethnic penalties

• Good evidence for success of American (and Canadian) Federal Contractor programme

• Procurement successfully used by Transport for London

• Good evidence for success of Northern Ireland fair employment programme (which applies to all employers, not just government contractors)

Key features of successful programmes

• Monitoring to determine whether particular group is under-represented in recruitment or promotion or over-represented in layoffs and redundancies

• Compliance reviews/enforcement activity• Action plans agreed with firms to address

under-representation• Does not require ‘positive discrimination’

Progress is possible

… but requires action not just well-meaning mission statements

…is more likely if there is commitment from top business and political leadership

…appears to offer net benefits to firms and communities, not just costs

…is an integral part of western liberal principles of equality of opportunity