High
unemployment rates among ethnic minorities are due to racial discrimination,
claimed employment minister Nick Brown yesterday.
He
explained that the Government’s latest version of the New Deal will target
ethnic minorities along with other groups that have difficulty securing work,
including ex-offenders and former drug addicts.
Employer
discrimination was cited as an important barrier to the employment of ethnic
minorities by Brown in an interview with ePolitix, the political news website.
Brown
also suggested that the Government would not back down on rolling out Job
Centre Plus, which removes the protective screens between staff and visitors to
the benefits office. Staff have voted to strike over the removal of the screens
in the new style centres.
