BME
Black and Ethnic Minority
Having a council workforce that fully reflects, at all levels, the rich diversity of the population of Tower Hamlets has long been an aspiration of the Council.
Overall the council has achieved a workforce that is almost half BME, which puts us firmly in the forefront of all local authorities in the UK and is to be celebrated.
The council has one of the most diverse communities within London, which was reflected in the 2001 Census which revealed that of the borough’s population of 209,400, 31% are of Bangladeshi origin, 6% from African/Caribbean backgrounds and 53.8% White British origin.
We have a number of challenges which face us in Tower Hamlets, some of which are as follows:
- The employment rate of minority ethnic communities as a percentage of those in employment is 40.8% in 2004/05 in comparison with a percentage of 58.9% in England.
- The employment rate of those with the lowest/no qualifications % in employment in Tower Hamlets in 2004/05 was 27.6% compared with 50.1% in England.
- There is a younger than average population within Tower Hamlets, with the Bangladeshi population in particular reflecting this.
Through a series of interventions, the greatest increase in employment over the past 3 years in the council has been in the Bangladeshi group of staff, resulting in BME staff now accounting for 48.4 per cent of the workforce; an increase of 1.7 per cent over the past year. This makes us one of the top performing local authorities in the United Kingdom on this indicator.
At senior management levels, the council has made two director-level appointments from the BME community. The Corporate Management Team now has two of the eight members from an ethnic minority group, where previously there had been none.
We have a number of programmes to promote the Council as a place to work which are having an impact. This is particularly evident in the 19-29 years old age group where 48 per cent within this age group are from a Bangladeshi background.
These programmes include:
- Social work - routes to work (including positive action)
- Hamlets Youth
- National & local graduate programmes
- Step Up Now 1 & 2
- Aspiring Leaders Programme (ALP)
- Apprenticeships
Accompanying the council’s Workforce to Reflect the Community Strategy is an action plan which focuses on key areas for recruiting, developing and promoting employees from BME communities. The action plan includes Recruitment, Attraction & Selection; Entry-level programmes; Graduate careers; Talent management, progression & career development; and Leadership & Management Development.
Our focus on the BME Community extends beyond the workplace to partnership working with local community groups and actively participating in events such as the Baishakhi Mela and Octobers' Black History Month.