Nearly
one in three Home Office staff in London and Croydon is from an ethnic minority
background, according to Home Secretary David Blunkett.
Blunkett
said performance figures for the Home Office and the prison, police and
probation services show the Home Office is meeting the majority of its targets
for race employment.
"The
Government has always made it clear that it wants the public sector to set the
pace in the drive for race equality," he said. "If the Government is
to speak seriously about race equality as a service provider and as a
policymaker it must also demonstrate the principles of race equality as an
employer, with workforces that reflect the ethnic diversity of the communities
they serve.
"I
am proud to announce excellent progress against our ambitious race employment
targets. We have achieved considerable success in attaining appropriate
representation from black and minority ethnic groups amongst the staff of the
Home Office and its agencies.
"The
Home Office, Immigration Service, Forensic Science Service, UK Passports Agency
and Probation Service have already exceeded their 2009 targets for
representation of minority ethnic staff six years early. The Prison Service has
met its 2004 milestone two years early.
"There
has been much achieved but work is required in some services. The Police
Service have very narrowly missed its milestone – 3.5 per cent of police
service staff are from minority ethnic groups against a target of 3.6 per cent
for 2002.
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"However,
the service has travelled a long way since the employment targets were
introduced in 1999 and in three years has increased the number of minority
ethnic officers by 33 percent."
