The following is a letter that I sent to Nazia Kosar, the Outreach and Events Manager at the FastStream Diversity Programme:
On the diversity section of the Fast Stream website, you say “In order to be fully effective the Civil Service needs to be representative of the diverse society that it serves.”
I wonder why you think diversity is necessarily a good thing? Surely you would be better off using merit as a measure of a potential staff member’s worth rather than arbitrary targets related to people’s skin colouring or beliefs? You claim you intend to “identify individuals with the potential to progress… regardless of age, gender, race, disability or sexual preference” but the Autumn and Winter training courses are for “final year undergraduates and graduates from ethnic minority backgrounds”.
Perhaps you are not aware, but this is not the same as equality – this is encouraging numerical equivalence with society in order to satisfy an ideological position at the expense of merit, fairness and true equality. True equality would not lead to active encouragement for people based on their skin colour, which is racist, but would lead to genuine and transparent colour blindness.
I hope you will take my comments on board and that you receive many other letters with similar disgust at government bodies actively promoting a second wrong to right a social ‘wrong’.
Yours sincerely
Mr Gavin Ayling
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#1 by Nazia Kosar on October 5th, 2005 - 2:25 pm
Dear Gavin,
Thank you for your email.
You may probably be aware that where groups are under represented in a particular area, the law allows for training to “level the playing field for them”. Under the Race Relations Act, section 37/38 employers are allowed to provide training for any ethnic group where it can be proved that it is under represented in their workforce. The Civil Service General Fast Stream Development Programme is a graduate entry route taking high calibre graduates from a range of institutions. Currently 85% of the university population is white but white students make up at least 95% of those joining the General Fast Stream.
The reasons for this lack of balance are numerous and complex, but we believe that they include a lack of awareness of the Civil Service amongst some ethnic groups, unfamiliarity with the Civil Service culture, and a belief that they would not be welcome. As the Act allows, the autumn and winter and development programmes raise awareness of the General Fast Stream amongst those who are under represented within it. They also introduce graduates and undergraduates, who might otherwise not consider us, to Civil Service culture. As such, they are not open to white graduates. Nevertheless, the selection to the Graduate Fast Stream itself is, as it has always been, completely fair and open to all, and every applicant is judged on merit throughout the selection process.
You may have also noticed that we another targeted programme for undergraduates and graduates who have a disability, again this is for similar reasons but this time addressing the issue: under representation of people with disabilities in the Senior Civil Service.
I hope this answers your concerns. You may be interested to learn about other opportunities available in the Civil Service through the website: http://www.careers.civil-service.gov.uk.
Kind regards,
Nazia Kosar