Conclusions and recommendations
The Government’s approach to integration and opportunity
1.The Government must work to rebuild trust with Muslim communities by adopting an approach to integration which focuses on how it improves the life chances of disadvantaged communities rather than through the lens of counter-extremism. The Government must set out how it will address the challenge and work to achieve equality for British Muslims. This aim is distinct and should be separated from the Government’s work to challenge extremism. (Paragraph 41)
2.Despite a welcome focus from the Government on tackling disadvantage, it still lacks a coherent overarching plan with measurable objectives to tackle the inequalities faced by Muslims. (Paragraph 42)
3.The Government must introduce a plan to tackle the inequalities faced by Muslims by the end of the year. The 2020 challenge and McGregor Smith and Parker reviews must identify the distinct barriers that individuals from different groups face on the basis of their religion, ethnicity and migration history, and include specific policies to address the disadvantages faced by Muslim people. (Paragraph 42)
4.Key to this is a drive to improve the quality of data so that employers, universities and the Government can all play their part in helping Muslim people achieve their potential. A lack of comprehensive data is hindering analysis of the barriers that Muslim people face in achieving equality of opportunity. This gives more weight to anecdotal evidence and undermines the analysis of policy efficacy. (Paragraph 43)
5.The Government needs to address this issue directly in its response to this Report, and outline how it intends to improve data collection, including timescales. (Paragraph 43)
Supporting the aspirations of Muslim women
6.One of the key drivers of the under-representation of Muslims in the labour market is the high levels of economic inactivity among Muslim women. The data suggests that these patterns are shifting across generations but we remain concerned that this shift is happening too slowly and that not all women who aspire to work or progress in their careers are being supported to make that a reality. (Paragraph 84)
7.Gender equality applies to all British residents no matter what faith. We have noted the evidence that stereotypical views of Muslim women, which may be held by employers or communities, can act as a barrier to employment opportunities. (Paragraph 85)
8.The Government needs to show confidence in challenging such views to help Muslim women to access language and education and to work independently. (Paragraph 85)
9.We have heard evidence of the value of a peer-to-peer approach, such as mentoring and role modelling, in helping Muslim women overcome barriers to employment. (Paragraph 86)
10.We note that mosques can also play an important role in promoting opportunities for Muslim women. The Government Equalities Office and the Department for Communities and Local Government should create specific national outreach programmes to promote female role models within Muslim communities as soon as possible. The Department for Work and Pensions should also consider integrating tailored peer-to-peer support into their support package. (Paragraph 86)
11.The impact of Islamophobia on Muslim women should not be underestimated. The Government should raise awareness amongst employers of what constitutes illegal discrimination. In particular, this applies to those employers who advertise vacancies through Jobcentre Plus. (Paragraph 86)
Widening access to university
12.Our key recommendations are that:
- We are concerned about the lack of available data on Muslim student’s entry to university, and their attainment there and subsequent employment; and welcome the Government’s plans for compelling higher education institutions to collect data under the planned transparency duty. (Paragraph 118)
- For its proposed transparency duty to be effective, universities must be required to break down its data beyond the broad heading of ‘BME’, and consider using a narrower heritage category. (Paragraph 118)
- While British Muslims are well represented within universities, they are still disproportionately under-represented within the Russell Group. (Paragraph 119)
- We acknowledge the good work that is being done by universities to widen participation but believe that the Government and universities must more effectively measure the impact of this work and create meaningful strategies on the basis of activities that have been proven to be effective. Universities must publish their strategies to improve under-representation of Muslim students, including how they intend to measure the strategies, and publish the results on a yearly basis from academic year 2017–18. (Paragraph 119)
- Parents and students should be given sufficient information to make fully informed choices about future career and education choices which take into account alternative choices, including apprenticeships. (Paragraph 120)
- Universities and umbrella organisations such as IntoUniversity, Million+ and the Russell Group must do more to engage parents from Muslim communities in outreach work. The need for greater parental involvement should be acknowledged within the Office for Fair Access’s agreements with universities from academic year 2017–18 or sooner if possible. (Paragraph 120)
13.We also recommend that:
- We heard that for a small number of Muslim students the lack of Sharia-compliant ethical student loans is a significant barrier to accessing higher education. (Paragraph 121)
- In its response to this report, the Government should provide more information about the timetable for the introduction of a Sharia-compliant ethical student loan. (Paragraph 121)
- More also needs to be done to improve student prospects once at university and after graduation. Universities must introduce a dedicated careers advice service for BME students, in recognition of the employment gaps that they are affected by following graduation. This should include role models and mentors as a means of support after graduation. This tailored service should be made available from academic year 2017–18. The Universities Social Mobility Advisory Group should develop best practice for supporting students from minority backgrounds beyond admissions and throughout their time at university and roll this out from academic year 2017–18. (Paragraph 122)
Providing effective support to work
14.Our key recommendations are:
- We are concerned that eight years on from the NAO’s report, Increasing Employment Rates for Ethnic Minorities, issues relating to the lack of localised support to target unemployment amongst specific ethnic minority groups have not been addressed. (Paragraph 152)
- The Government needs to equip Jobcentre Plus staff with the tools and training to improve their understanding of employment issues faced by Muslim people. Where targeted pilot schemes are successful, best practice should be shared widely. In areas where there are high levels of Muslim unemployment, the Department for Work and Pensions should introduce tailored support and local budgets to fund targeted support, and regularly publish outcomes of the schemes. (Paragraph 152)
- Household conditionality under Universal Credit may affect up to 1 million families, including people who have not previously engaged with employment support services. There should be additional tailored support for those who are disproportionately affected, such as those with language barriers. (Paragraph 153)
- The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) must be fully prepared to provide additional support, including working with specialist third party organisations, to those affected by household conditionality through Universal Credit. Before the roll-out of Universal Credit, DWP should introduce a campaign targeted at those who will be affected to raise awareness of the implications of household conditionality and avoid potential disengagement. (Paragraph 153)
- This inquiry has heard, that while not an issue exclusively for those from Muslim communities, there are a significant minority of Muslim women and men for whom ESOL is vital in facilitating access to and progression within employment. The £20 million fund should include an evaluation of the outcomes and cost-effectiveness of community-based learning to support those with a wide range of needs from caring responsibilities, to disabilities and illiteracy, with a view to increasing provision of this kind of support if the evaluation shows it to have been effective. (Paragraph 154)
15.We also recommend:
- That the Department for Education should build on its work that raised awareness of free childcare provision amongst groups whose take up was low. Where a targeted campaign is run, they should equip local authorities and Jobcentre Plus advisers to address the concerns of Muslim women around making use of childcare provision, and monitor subsequent take-up. (Paragraph 155)
Tackling workplace discrimination
16.Our key recommendations are that:
- The Prime Minister’s championing of name-blind recruitment is a welcome step, and one that we have heard broad support for throughout this inquiry. (Paragraph 174)
- To be fully effective this should form part of a sustained initiative which profiles those employers which have successfully implemented the policy in order to incentivise others to follow suit. The Government should monitor uptake and legislate if progress is not made within this parliament. (Paragraph 174)
- Name-blind recruitment is only one part of the solution to workplace discrimination. (Paragraph 175)
- Both the Government and the Equality and Human Rights Commission must take action to make sure that employers are aware of their legal duties and employees are empowered to challenge discrimination. (Paragraph 175)
- With strong evidence about the rise of Islamophobia within wider society, and many individual Muslims coming forward with stories of discrimination and the fear of discrimination within the workplace, we believe there is a clear need for the Department for Work and Pensions to carry out research in this area. Employers should pay particular attention to the impact of discrimination and the fear of discrimination in the workplace for Muslim women who wear cultural or religious dress. Discrimination on the ground of religion is illegal under the Equality Act and more must be done to challenge Islamophobia within the workplace as part of a wider push to challenge Islamophobia in society. (Paragraph 176)
17.We also recommend that:
- Employers should make sure that information is disseminated properly across all staff so that equal opportunities policies are not undermined locally. (Paragraph 177)
© Parliamentary copyright 2015
3 August 2016