16 November 2001
The government's drive to increase diversity across Whitehall's white, male-dominated workforce is in danger of stagnating, the First Division Association warned this week.
Commenting on new figures from the Cabinet Office, the union, which represents senior civil servants, said there was increasing concern that the strategy to increase the numbers of women and ethnic minorities in Whitehall's upper echelons has stalled.
Across Whitehall, the proportion of staff from ethnic minority groups, at 6%, has remained roughly the same since October 2000. The number of disabled civil servants has fallen from 3.6% to 3.1% over the same period.
FDA assistant general secretary Robyn Dasey said: 'There are still too many barriers. Although there has been an effort to change, the long-hours culture is still dominant in too many departments.'
The government's equality adviser, Museji Ahmed Takolia, said the government was 'wholly committed to bringing in and developing a wider and more diverse workforce'.
Acknowledging that Whitehall 'has fallen short of our ideals', Takolia said the government was aware of the negative aspects of the civil service and had started several programmes, including a summer school for ethnic minority graduates and a mentoring scheme for women in Whitehall.
He pointed to Sue Street's appointment as permanent secretary at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport as an example of increasing diversity.
Street is only the fourth female permanent secretary in Whitehall. A former director of the Criminal Policy Group at the Home Office, she has experience of Whitehall and the private sector, having been a management consultant in the City.
PFnov2001
