Welfare Reform on the Web (October 2008): Social security - UK - New Deal

Increasing employment rates for ethnic minorities

Committee of Public Accounts

London: TSO, 2008 (House of Commons papers, session 2007/08: HC 472)

The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for helping people into employment, largely through a range of services provided by Jobcentre Plus offices across the country. The Department has given a high priority to reducing the employment gap for ethnic minorities and has consistently used its mainstream employment services as the principal instrument for closing that gap, with some degree of success. However, the Department's strategy for targeting additional support on ethnic minority communities has lacked continuity which has had an adverse impact on the effectiveness of the efforts by Jobcentre Plus to reduce ethnic minority unemployment. . This report is focused on the effectiveness of the Department's strategy and concludes that, whilst the Department has achieved a reduction in the employment gap there is more that can be done to achieve further increases in ethnic minority employment.