The news story can be accessed here.
The independent report of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities published on 31 March 2021 makes 24 recommendations.
These are grouped into 4 broad themes:
- Build trust
- Promote fairness
- Create agency
- Achieve inclusivity
The themes cover the aspects of change that the Commission believes will catalyse the most effective way to meaningfully address disparities and inequalities for all those affected.
A number of organisations have been critical of the report.
CIPD, the professional body for experts in people at work. Their role is championing better work and working lives by setting professional standards for HR and people development, as well as driving positive change in the world of work.
They feel that a failure to recommend mandatory ethnicity pay reporting and greater transparency is a missed opportunity to improve racial equality in the workplace. CIPD remind us that racial equality at work is not just about participation in employment but also about progression into more senior roles. Their full response to the report can be accessed here.
The Runnymede Trust, a charitable company, describe themselves as the UK’s leading independent race equality think tank. They generate intelligence to challenge race inequality in Britain through research, network building, leading debate, and policy engagement.
Their statement of the report includes the comments “the very suggestion that government evidence confirms that institutional racism does not exist is frankly disturbing. And they use examples of why they feel it is disturbing such as “A young Black mother is four times more likely to die in childbirth than her white friend.
Their statement can be accessed here. As well as a recording of their snap event to discuss the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities findings and why it has failed to address structural and institutional racism in the UK: https://www.runnymedetrust.org/sewell
One of the major changes we might see is the potential changes to the terminology used in government funding to the local VCSE sector. The report recommends that the government moves away from the use of the term ‘BAME,” to better focus on understanding disparities and outcomes for specific ethnic groups.
The report can be accessed here.
Local VCSE organisations supporting local diverse communities may wish to read the report and comments by CIPD and Runnymede Trust.