House of Commons - Work and Pensions

Select Committee on Work and Pensions Written Evidence

Memorandum submitted by the British Sikh Federation

SUMMARY

Combating Institutional Racism:

Ensuring Equal Treatment and Elimination of Discrimination Against British Sikh Community

As you may know, the Cabinet Office Performance and Innovation Unit Scoping Note for a project shows that Sikhs are more likely to be unemployed, less well represented in top status jobs, and less well paid; this is in line with the experience of the 700,000 British Sikh Community (figures based on Cambridge University research paper). Institutional racism needs to be removed against the British Sikh Community, so that we can get our fair share of jobs recruitment, retention, progression, and delivery of services by the public and private sector by Sikh ethnic group monitoring. The British Sikh Federation (BSF) has written to the Secretary of State, Department of Work and Pensions, 7 July 2003, asking for this to be done.

The British Sikh Community has campaigned for such fair and equal treatment at a national level with Parliament, Government, and political parties. All good and objective minded leaders have agreed that the British Sikh Community should be monitored as a separate ethnic group category, eg Labour Party MPs and leaders, Iain Duncan Smith MP (Conservative Party Leader), Oliver Letwin MP (Shadow Home Secretary), Simon Hughes MP (Liberal Democrat Party Home Affairs Spokesman), Edward McMillan-Scott (Conservative Party MEPs Chairman), Winfred Ewing MP (President Scottish National Party), Dayfdd Wigley MP (President Plaid Cymru), Alan J Donnelly/Simon Murphy (Labour MEPs Group Leader), David Martin MEP (Labour, Vice President of the European Parliament), etc. Some 198 MPs have signed Parliamentary Early Day Motions in support, All Party Parliamentary Group Panjabis in Britain, Lord Tarsem Singh King (Labour), and many others have given their support at Sikh Lobby Days of Parliament. The National Assembly Against Racism (NAAR), consisting of trade unions, MPs, white, asian, and black communities has also supported the British Sikh Community on this matter by the passage of a Resolution at it's Annual General Meeting. See attachment showing the presentation of a national petition to the Prime Minister's Office, which had been signed by the leaders of some 120 Sikh leading Gurdwaras and organisations throughout the country.

Hilary Benn MP, Minister with responsibility at the Home Office, replied in a House of Commons Adjournment Debate on Sikh ethnic group monitoring category, 3 July 2002, stating that whilst the Commission for Racial Equality "statutory code of practice encourages authorities, in using the same classification system as used in the 2001 census, also to recognise, as the code does, that authorities may choose to collect more detailed information to reflect local circumstances. Indeed, I would expect them to do that."

Lord Filkin, Parliamentary Secretary of State at the Home Office, stated in a letter dated 26 November 2002 to the BSF, that "Public authorities with significant Sikh populations in their area may opt to do this and we have been clear and positive in supporting this."

The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) has also revised it's Ethnic Monitoring, A guide for public authorities, July 2002, giving Sikhs as an example for ethnic group monitoring by public authorities; see enclosed extract from the document. The CRE now also accepts that Sikhs are an ethnic group.

Appendices show the differing institutional racism faced by different ethnic groups, setting of targets, and differing racial discrimination faced by white minority ethnic groups.

Could the Work and Pensions Committee please review this Submission, and take action to recommend that a Sikh ethnic group monitoring category should be implemented by the Department for Work and Pensions, so that we get our fair share of jobs recruitment, retention, progression, and delivery of all services.

The Need for Sikh Ethnic Group Data

Ethnic group data is needed in order to ensure that we get our fair share of jobs, promotions, businesses, delivery of services, grants, development funds, etc by central/local government departments and employers, etc. Our fair share of central government departments expenditure alone would be £4,000 million per year based on March 2001 budget. Our fair share of the total economy would be £10,000 million per year, based on the GDP figures for year 2000. If we are not monitored, then we do not count, and we will not get our fair share.

Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000

The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 provisions require public bodies to take active steps to ensure racial equality in order to overcome institutional racism. Following representations, the Prime Minister has instructed the Performance and Innovation Unit (PIU) to undertake a new project to draw together a clearer shared understanding across government of the current position and prospects of ethnic minority groups and to make recommendations about future policies; the Scoping Note for this project refers to Brown's research showing that Sikhs are more likely to be unemployed, less well represented in top status jobs, and less well paid.

Some Bullet Points

Commission for Racial Equality (CRE)

Home Office

Foreign Office

Akal Takhat Jathedar (from Amritsar, Panjab, India)

Parliament

Home Office Government Minister Letter

". . . the accompanying non-statutory guidance also recognises that authorities may choose to collect more detailed information to reflect local circumstances. Public authorities with significant Sikh populations in their area may opt to do this and we have been clear and positive in supporting this.

I recognise both that there is a significant Sikh community within the West Midlands and that this would appear to be the sort of local circumstances in which the exercising of discretion by public bodies may be appropriate. I can confirm that there is no objection to West Midlands Police collecting more detailed additional information regarding Sikh applicants if they wish to do so."

Political Support

Many MPs and MEPs from all political parties have given their support that Sikhs should be monitored as a separate ethnic group category, eg Simon Hughes (Liberal Democrat Party Home Affairs Spokesman), Oliver Letwin (Conservative Party Shadow Secretary of State for Home Affairs), Dominic Grieve (Conservative Party Shadow Home Affairs Minister), Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative Party Leader), Edward McMillan-Scott (Conservative MEPs Chairman), Winfred Ewing (President Scottish National Party), Dayfdd Wigley (President Plaid Cymru), many Labour Party MPs (eg Dennis Turner, Rob Marris, Piara Singh Khabra, Keith Vaz, Marsha Singh, Parmjit Singh Dhanda, Khalid Mahmood, Mohammed Sarwar), etc.

Prime Minister Tony Blair has made it clear that Sikhs are an ethnic group, as well as being a religious group.

Highest Court in country

The highest court in the country, House of Lords, has ruled that Sikhs are an ethnic group, with distinguishing features based on a common geographical origin or descent, a common language, a common literature, a long shared history, a separate identity distinguished from other groups, a separate alphabet, historical political sovereignty, etc. The House of Lords clearly rejected that Sikhs were just a religious group, but held that Sikhs were also an ethnic group.

Sikhs are larger than other monitored ethnic groups

The 700,000 British Sikh Community is larger than many of the other monitored groups and deserves to be fairly treated, eg the 1991 Census figures give Black-African (212,000), Other Black (178,000), Pakistani (477,000), Bangladeshi (163,000), Chinese (157,000). This helps them to get jobs, promotions, and service delivery since they are monitored as separate ethnic groups. The British Sikh Community also needs to be monitored as a separate ethnic group, since this effects their jobs, promotions, and service delivery by central and local government departments and other employers.

If we are not monitored, then we do not count, and we will not get our fair share; other ethnic groups will get our share instead. Many smaller ethnic groups than the Sikhs are being monitored, and we have been in existence longer for the last 304 years than some of them as well, eg Pakistani (56 years), Bangladeshi (25 years), Black African, Chinese, etc. The 1991 Census showed that 395 Chinese, 187 Bangladeshi, 2,074 Pakistani, 319 Black African were counted in Wolverhampton, but 20,000 Sikhs in Wolverhampton were not counted or the 40,000 Sikhs in Birmingham or over 100,000 Sikhs in London.

Service during both World Wars

Some 1.5 million Sikh officers and soldiers served to defend Great Britain during both World Wars, and helped to liberate European, African, and Asian countries; some 83,005 Sikhs gave up their lives, whilst 109,045 were wounded. Many Sikhs were awarded Victoria Crosses for their bravery during both World Wars. The Sikhs made the highest contribution of all the ethnic minority groups now settled in the UK.

Sikhs can be easily monitored

The British Sikh Community can be easily monitored as an ethnic group, and responsible organisations have done so, eg Hertfordshire County Council, West Midlands Police, Thames Valley Police, South Bucks (near Slough) Local Authority Council, British Energy (largest electricity generating company in the country), Sandwell Borough Local Authority Council, Business Link Hertfordshire, Birmingham City Local Authority Council for delivery of services; etc. Many organisations have created additional ethnic group monitoring categories to those used in the census, taking account of CRE advice on this matter as well, eg Greek, Cypriot, Tamil, Kurds, etc.

The British Sikh Community need to have a separate ethnic group category since it is used by employers for monitoring and job setting targets for recruitment, retention, promotions, delivery of services, etc. It is not acceptable to the British Sikh Community that they should have to tick the "Other" box, and then write in Sikh in the space provided. A separate ethnic group category will help to reduce the tremendous racial discrimination against the British Sikh Community. More than half of the British Sikh Community have been born or have grown up in the UK, and approx. 80% of Sikhs settled in the UK have British nationality instead of Indian nationality, and this proportion is increasing all the time.

Akal Takht Jathedar, Parkash Singh Badal (Chief Minister of Panjab, and Leader of Shiromani Akali Dal political party), Simranjit Singh Mann MP (Leader of Shiromani Akali Dal—Amritsar political party), SGPC, Hindu RSS—all say Sikhs are a separate Nation (Qaum).

Joginder Singh Vedanti, Akal Takht Jathedar (Golden Temple, Amritsar), May 2000, presiding over a meeting of Sikh organisations stated that Sikhs were a separate Qaum with a distinct ideology and physical characteristics; he also repeated this at the House of Commons on 26 November 2002. Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister of Panjab, September 2000, called for the Sikhs to be recognised as a separate racial group in the Indian constitution; his political party are members of the Indian Union coalition Government in Delhi. Simranjit Singh Mann MP, 31 August 2000, stated that Sikhs were a separate Nation at the Birmingham Sikh Community and Youth Service (SCYS). The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee (Central Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee based at Golden Temple, Amritsar, Panjab, created by legislation) passed a Resolution that Sikhs are a separate Qaum (Nation) on 25 March 1981.

The Hindu para-military organisation RSS, a wing of the ruling BJP political party, met the Indian Government Minorities Commission in New Delhi on 16 January 2001, and after the 60 minute meeting agreed that Sikhs belonged to a separate religion and were a separate Nation (Qaum). This was a welcome development, since previously the RSS had maintained that Sikhs were a part of the Hindu religion. This was reported in the British Panjabi newspapers, eg Panjab Times 24 January 2001, Des Pardes 26 January 2001, Awaze Qaum, etc.

National Assembly Against Racism

The National Assembly Against Racism (NAAR), consisting of Trade Unions, MPs, white, asian, and black communities has also supported the British Sikh Community on this matter by the passage of a Resolution at it's Annual General Meeting.

Widespread support in UK

Email networks (consisting of some 110 Sikh organisations and more than 1,200 members), Sikh Gurdwaras, Sikh organisations, conferences, press articles, Members of Parliament signing Early Day Motions, Commission for Racial Equality, Sikh Lobby Days in Parliament, etc. have all been involved in consultations and the importance of a separate Sikh ethnic group monitoring category during the past five years. There has been widespread support on this matter. Over 120 leading Sikh Gurdwaras and organisations throughout the country have given their written support, as well as 198 MPs from all political parties signing Early Day Motions in Parliament on this matter.

Indian National Minorities Commission

The Hindu newspaper, Friday, 25 October 2002: London, (PTI): Vice-Chairman of the National Minority Commission Tarlochan Singh supported the demand for British Sikhs being registered as a separate community. "I fully support the demand here for registering Sikhs as a separate community but they should not join the demand for separation. We are in the national mainstream and we should work together for the good of everyone," Singh said here last night.

Indian Constitution Review Commission

The Indian Constitution Review Commission has also recommended that Sikhs should be treated as a separate group. The Jains and Buddhists had also been listed as part of the Hindu fold in the Indian Constitution definition, and the Commission recommended that they should be identified separately as well.

Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London

The Sikh Times, 31 October 2002, front page: Livingstone pledges support to Sikh monitoring; it quoted him saying that if a nation is eager to implement this, it should have government backing, and this would encourage a fairer monitoring procedure and correct facilities were implemented for this community.

Government Office for National Statistics (ONS)

The Office for National Statistics has previously advised the BSF that Sikhs can be ethnic group monitored separately, whilst still maintaining comparability with previous census data.

APPENDIX 1

WORK AND PENSIONS COMMITTEE, HOUSE OF COMMONS

DIFFERENT INSTITUTIONAL RACISM FACED BY DIFFERENT ETHNIC GROUPS

Over the past few years, the BSF has researched and complied the levels of employment for Asian and black ethnic minorities. The following data can be viewed to obtain some understanding.

Black Jobs Asian Jobs

Commission for Racial Equality 44% 19%

Birmingham City Council 8.5% (5.9%) 6.1% (13.5%)

Sandwell Borough Council 6.6% (3.3%) 5.6% (10.8%)

Walsall Borough Council 5.74% (1.32%) 2.17% (7.90%)

Wolverhampton Borough Council 6.44% (5.21%) 5.87% (12.85%)

Merton London Borough Council 9.6% (5.9%) 2.7% (8.1%)

Hammersmith & Fulham London BC 22.7% (8.2%) 3.6% (3.7%)

Corporation of London 4.26% 0.8%

Waltham Forest London BC 19.2% (11.45%) 7.34% (10.60%)

City of Nottingham Council 6.3% (3.8%) 3.9% (3.4%)

Nottinghamshire County Council 3.79% 1.67%

Cabinet Office 6.0% 3.2%

Dept for Education and Employment 5.1% 2.8%

Dept of Health 7.6% 4.7%

Police 0.8% 0.7%

Police Civilian Staff (inc Traffic Wdns) 2.1% 1.2%

Crown Prosecution Service 4.1% 4.7%

Serious Fraud Office 12.2% 3.7%

Magistrates Court Staff 2.2% 1.8%

Probation Service 7.0% 1.3%

Prison Officer grades 1.5% 0.7%

Criminal Injuries Comp. Authority/panel 14.4% 7.2%

Figures in brackets indicate population proportions from the 1991 Census; the job figures were provided by the organisations themselves. The figures for the central government depts. eg Cabinet Office, DfEE, Dept of Health were obtained from the Institute for Employment Studies, Equality Proofing in Performance Review in the Civil Service, April 2000.

From the above it can be seen that so many large public bodies practice racial discrimination against the Asians, and even the Commission for Racial Equality practices racial discrimination against Whites (who get only 31% of the jobs) and Asians, since Asians are twice as large as Blacks on a population proportion basis and have higher educational achievement rates according to the Government Office for National Statistics, eg those studying for a first or higher degree in 1995 (19-24 age) gave Sikhs & Indians: 29%, Black: 12%, White: 13%, Pakistani/Bangladeshi: 14%.

In Wolverhampton Borough Council alone, some 700-1,200 jobs are denied to Asians, amounting to a loss of £11-18 million per year in salaries alone, whilst blacks receive 124 more jobs in comparison to their 1991 Census population proportion. Despite several written requests to the Chief Executive, Wolverhampton Borough Council, employment data for different ethnic groups was denied to the BSF, and we had to get the data via a Councillor. Public authorities should not deny data, in order to try and hide bad and biased practices.

These levels of greater institutional racism against Asians, and sometimes against whites as well (eg by the CRE and Birmingham City Council), need to be accepted and acknowledged, and actions taken to ensure that there is equality of opportunity for all ethnic groups. It is not just an odd exception, but is systematic institutional racism against Asians, most of whom have been born here, gone to school/college/university here in the UK. A lot of official literature has concentrated on racial discrimination against blacks over many years, largely ignoring the Asians, so that employers then took action to employ more blacks and very much fewer Asians, as shown in the above figures, eg CRE reports.

The Work and Pensions Committee is requested to consider and recommend to the Department of Work and Pensions the existence of such systematic racial discrimination against Sikhs and other Asians, and to put in place actions to overcome it.

APPENDIX 2

WORK AND PENSIONS COMMITTEE, HOUSE OF COMMONS

SETTING OF TARGETS

Targets are set by many public authorities and businesses to ensure fair levels of employment, jobs recruitment, retention, progression, and delivery of services. This is quite right and proper, and shows the levels that would exist if all the processes operated fairly.

How would the Work and Pensions Committee feel if the following existed:

— The targets set caused racial discrimination against whites, with a lower target being set for whites?

— The targets set were not based on the market supply position of different ethnic groups, eg if educational levels were not taken into account, whites would have a lower target figure for total employment levels?

— The targets set did not take into account reasonable travel time / distance for jobs recruitment, eg excluded people living within 30 minutes travel time, thereby giving a lower employment target level for whites?

— The targets set did not take into account the economic activity levels, thereby leading to lower targets being set for whites?

The above injustices would take place if population proportions alone were taken into account when setting targets for jobs recruitment, retention, and progression. This has happened in Birmingham City Council, with population proportions alone being taken into account, which result in lower employment targets being set for whites, Sikhs, and Indian racial groups; population levels within easy travelling time/distance were ignored, eg people travelling to Birmingham from Wolverhampton, West Bromwich, Smethwick, Walsall, Dudley, Solihull, etc. The BSF has previously written to Birmingham City Council pointing these facts to them, but there has been no meaningful response.

It is a fact that different ethnic groups have different levels of education, economic activity (some do not want women to work for cultural or social reasons), some groups are more active than others, etc. All such relevant data is available for different ethnic groups. Targets should be set taking such relevant factors into account, so that there is no injustice against the various ethnic groups, be they White, Sikh, Indian, Black, Chinese, etc.

Proper targets should be set for all job grades, so that the different groups are represented fairly in the higher job grades as well; it is a fact that Asian an black ethnic minorities are not getting their fair share of higher job grades, even some 27 years after the passage of the Race Relations Act 1976.

Delivery of public services, eg benefits should be monitored and actioned to make sure that Asian and black ethnic minorities are getting their fair share, and appropriate resources should be allocated to make sure that this can happen.

The Work and Pensions Committee is requested to recommend to the Department for Work and Pensions, that targets must be set properly taking all relevant factors into account, not just population proportions, and that the calculations determining the target level figures must be available to the public.

APPENDIX 3

DIFFERENT INSTITUTIONAL RACISM FACED BY DIFFERENT WHITE ETHNIC GROUPS

The white Irish group was able to demonstrate that it suffered group disadvantage, and as such is now monitored as a separate ethnic group.

Reports have now also shown that there is sectarianism in Scotland, so that the Catholics and Protestants suffer group disadvantages.

Reports have also shown that the white English group suffer racial discrimination in Scotland, and the reverse may be true with Scots suffering racial discrimination in England or Wales. Clearly, in Scotland and Wales the English group is a minority. In England, the Welsh and Scots are a minority. It is a sad fact, but minorities suffer racial discrimination at the hands of the majority, whatever their colour.

The BSF has come across one company operating in both England and Scotland, where the white English group suffered racial discrimination, with jobs being lost from England to Scotland. The BSF brought this matter to the attention of the Commission for Racial Discrimination (CRE), and asked them to put in place monitoring so that such racial discrimination could then be seen, where companies operate in more than one UK country (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland). The CRE has now recommended alternative expanded ethnic group monitoring categories for use in England, Wales, Scotland, which will give better protection for the white ethnic groups; see attachment 4.

The Work and Pensions Committee is requested to consider and recommend such CRE recommended ethnic group monitoring categories for white ethnic groups to the Department for Work and Pensions.

Attachments to BSF Submission to Work and Pensions Committee, House of Commons

1. Photo of Petition presentation to Prime Minister's Office—John McDonnell MP (Labour), Oliver Letwin MP (Conservative), Simon Hughes MP (Liberal Democrat), Peter Luff MP (Friends of India Parliamentary Group), etc. accompanied by representatives from several British Sikh Community organisations.

2. CRE Ethnic Monitoring, A guide for public authorities, July 2002, giving Sikhs as an example for ethnic group monitoring.

3. Example of Sikh ethnic group monitoring form.

4. CRE Ethnic Monitoring, A guide for public authorities, July 2002, showing alternative white ethnic group categories for use in England, Wales, and Scotland.

Kashmir Singh LL.B, LL.M

General Secretary

18 July 2003



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