The government has published 'Inclusive Britain', its response to the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities Report.
The Commission, which was set up by the Prime Minister in 2020, published its report on 31 March 2021 and made a number of recommendations to address ethnic and racial disparities and inequalities.
The government has accepted that the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) should use its compliance, enforcement and litigation powers to challenge policies or practices that cause significant and unjust racial disadvantage. The Cabinet Office will invest in EHRC enforcement activity.
The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities recommended improving the transparency and use of artificial intelligence by publishing guidance on applying the Equality Act 2010 to algorithmic decision-making and requiring transparency from public sector bodies when it is used. The government Office for AI will develop a national position on governing and regulating AI, and will set this out in a white paper in 2022. Meanwhile, the EHRC will advise on the safeguards needed to ensure that technological advances do not have a disproportionate impact on ethnic minatory groups.
The Commission recommended the development of resources for employers to enhance fairness in the workplace. The government has stated in response to this, that by spring 2023, the Equality Hub will create an 'Inclusion at Work Panel' which will develop and disseminate effective resources to help employers drive fairness. In addition, the Government Equalities Office will create new updated guidance on positive action by December 2022.
The government has confirmed, in its response to the report, that mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting will not be introduced, however it will require publication of a diagnosis and action plan for organisation who choose to publish ethnicity pay figures. These should set out the reasons why any disparities exist and what will be done to address them. It is expected the BEIS will publish guidance for employers on voluntary ethnicity pay reporting in summer 2022 which will include cases studies of those organisations who are already reporting.
The Department for Education is currently working with the Department for Work and Pensions to increase the numbers of young ethnic minorities in apprenticeships via direct engagement with young people. Measures are also being taken to equip entrepreneurs from underrepresented backgrounds with the skills they need to build successful businesses; BEIS is supporting HSBC to develop and launch its pilot for a competition-based, entrepreneur support programme in spring 2022 which will run in partnership with UK universities.
Finally the government has committed to changing the language around ethnic minorities to communicate more effectively on racial issues. In order to avoid lumping together different ethnic minority groups, the government has stopped using the term "BAME" in its own communications and will encourage other public sector bodies to do the same. Where it is absolutely necessary to draw a binary distinction between the ethnic majority and ethnic minorities, the government will use the term "people from ethnic minority backgrounds".
