§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what ethnic monitoring is carried out of staff in his Department including staff on short-term contracts. [175506]
§ Maria EagleThe Department for Work and Pensions monitors ethnicity to assess the effectiveness of its policies and procedures in creating a diverse workforce that is representative of the communities that we serve. This includes those staff on fixed-term contracts of employment. We hold ethnicity data on 88 per cent. of the Department's workforce which enables us to obtain robust data for our monitoring activities.
The ethnic profile of our workforce compares favourably with that of the general population and in the labour market. This information is made available within the Department by region and by grade.
The Department collects a wide range of information about the human resources activity of staff and aims, as a minimum, to meet the mandatory requirements in respect of employment duties stipulated in the Race Relations Act 1976, as amended by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.
1473WMonitoring is undertaken in relation to: job application rates; selection success rates; representation of different ethnic groups in the workforce; training application rates; promotion application and success rates; and performance and development appraisal mark distribution.
In addition we are developing systems to monitor disciplinary action, grievances and unsatisfactory work performance by ethnicity.