Councils are still failing BME workers

Almost half of local authorities in England still do not have any employees from black and minority ethnic (BME) communities among their top earners, according to official figures published last month.

The 2004-05 Best value performance indicators (BVPI), compiled by public spending watchdog the Audit Commission and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (now renamed the Department for Communities and Local Government), reveal that 189 out of 411 English councils do not have a single BME person in their top 5% of earners.

This is even worse than the situation in 2003-04, when 181 local authorities were in this position. Almost two-thirds (60%) of local authorities saw a decrease in the number of BME people among their top earners. And on average, just 0.8% of each council’s top-5% earners are from a BME background.

However, things are much better where women are concerned, with nearly three-quarters of local authorities (72%) reporting an increase in female top earners. And the average proportion of female earners in the top 5% is just under one-third (30%).

Joan Munro, national adviser on workforce strategy at the Improvement and Development Agency for local government, said it took time to move people through the system.

“This is very important to us, particularly in areas with high ethnic populations,” she said. “If people don’t see they can have a senior career in local government if they are from BME communities, they won’t apply and we could miss out on the top talent.”