10 Conclusion
211. This report has outlined the standards of service
delivery by DWP to black and ethnic minority clients. The evidence
presented during the inquiry leaves no doubt that ethnic minority
clients do experience differential treatment. However, there is
a real lack of hard evidence due to the Department's failure to
conduct comprehensive ethnic monitoring. The legislative requirements
of the Race Relations Act mean that the Department should already
know how all their policies and services affect race equality.
Efforts are being made to widen ethnic monitoring across DWP,
but progress remains far too slow and must be significantly speeded
up.
212. Ethnic monitoring of clients should form the
basis of a full impact exercise so that the Department can assess
how their policies and services affect race equality. An Impact
Assessment Tool has now been developed and the Committee urges
the Department to apply the Tool across the Department now and
act upon the results as a matter of urgency.
213. The importance of ethnic monitoring also applies
to DWP's staff. In spite of efforts to increase the representation
of ethnic minority staff, they remain disproportionately at the
lower staff grades. Much more effort needs to be put into recruiting
ethnic minority staff at higher grades and helping ethnic minority
staff move up through the grades. The Committee is also very concerned
that the DWP staffing efficiencies will have a detrimental impact
on the ethnic composition of DWP staff and action needs to be
taken to prevent ethnic minority staff from being disproportionately
affected.
214. DWP's Race Equality Scheme, published in 2003,
provided a useful starting point enabling the Department to consider
how race equality could be implemented across the Department.
Some progress has been made and the Department is now obliged
to review the Race Equality Scheme. The Committee expects the
statutory reviews to provide the impetus needed further to progress
race equality within DWP for ethnic minority clients and staff:
clients who are amongst the most in need, and staff who, for the
most part, are in the frontline and poorly paid.
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