Making sure that more people with disabilities or learning difficulties, and those from minorities, are able to benefit from apprenticeships is a priority for the Government, according to skills minister John Hayes.
At the launch of a government-backed marketing campaign to encourage more employers and young people to get involved in apprenticeships, Hayes said that he wanted to make sure everyone had the chance to 'be their best' through access to apprenticeships.
He commented: "I want more disabled people, for example, to benefit from apprenticeships. I want more people with learning difficulties to be able to benefit from apprenticeships. I want more women to get involved in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) apprenticeships. I want us to have more penetration into the minorities who are, at the moment, under-represented."
The New Era for Apprenticeships Campaign, launched by the National Apprenticeship Service at a parliamentary reception recently, includes contributions from apprentices at firms such as BT, insurance brokers Bluefin and SEC Recruitment.
Unionlearn, the TUC’s learning and skills organisation, has condemned “shocking” statistics from the UK Employer Skills Survey showing that 41% of UK employers did not train any of their staff in 2011.
According to the report 46% of UK employees (approximately 13 million) did not receive any training during 2011
Frances O'Grady, TUC deputy general secretary called on employers to ensure those from minorities and the disadvantaged, in particular, don't miss out on training opportunities in the workplace.
She said:
"It seems that the lion's share of development opportunities has gone to high-flyers and far too many ordinary workers have missed out - for example, part-time workers, carers, older workers, and disabled workers.
"Access to learning is an equality issue, and the barriers to learning people face go a long way to explaining why this country remains such an unequal place. Regardless of age, race, gender, class, sexuality or any disability, each and every worker should enjoy an equal chance to refresh their skills or learn something new at work.
We at Equality Matters are pleased to announce that we have formed a new department within our Equality and Diversity portfolio.
We now have in place tried and tested consultants who are skilled in mediation, dispute and conflict resolution, and who are available to assist clients in this complex and specialised field.
This coincides with the announcement by the Government that it is to provide a pilot mediation service in Manchester and Cambridge to help to achieve its goal of resolving workplace disputes before they reach the employment tribunal stage
Keith Willacy, Director said, 'We are very excited about this development within the company and see this new service as a natural extension to our already proven equality & diversity services. If we can assist businesses with resolution prior to the employment tribunal stage, we will without doubt be able to provide a timely and indeed cost effective solution'
The Government today announced the latest step in its attempts to reform the employment tribunal system - a pilot scheme for two regional mediation networks for small businesses.
The pilot networks will be located in Cambridge and Manchester, where employees from a group of 24 small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be able to receive government-funded mediation training. The businesses will be chosen later in the year when contracts have been awarded to the chosen mediation-training providers.
The aim is that a network of trained mediators will be available to provide mediation to other organisations in the network. The Government says that this will help to achieve its goal of resolving workplace disputes before they reach the employment tribunal stage.
The intention to pilot the two regional networks was published in November 2011, as part of the Government's response to the Resolving Workplace Disputes consultation. The Cambridge and Manchester pilots will run for 12 months and, if successful, the Government will consider introducing them into other areas of England, Scotland and Wales.
The Government has confirmed that it is to postpone the extension of the right to unpaid parental leave until 2013 due to the ongoing development of its Modern Workplaces policy.
Under the Parental Leave Directive, the parents of a child under the age of five will each have the right to take up to 18 weeks' unpaid parental leave, an extension of five weeks from the current provisions.
The Directive from the European Council comes into force on 8 March 2012 but the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) said that the Government intends to use a grace period that allows member states to delay implementation of the changes by one year "to take account of particular difficulties".
The Equality Act requires all public bodies to publish information by 31 January 2012 to show that they are complying with the need to eliminate harassment, advance equal opportunities and foster good relations between different groups.
Public Authorities are also required to set specific equality objectives by 6 April 2012 in order to comply with the public sector duties of the Act.
We are acutely aware of the timescales and that for many employers these are going to be difficult to achieve. We would be delighted to assist authorities with this task. Just complete the 'quick contact' request facility on this website and a member of our team will contact you.
A former NHS worker has been awarded £933,115 in compensation after an employment tribunal found that he had been subject to racial discrimination and unfair dismissal.
Elliot Browne was a divisional director at Central Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust until he was dismissed in 2008. Browne told an employment tribunal that he had been the victim of "discriminatory treatment" in the final year of his employment at the trust and had been unfairly dismissed.
The tribunal found that Browne had suffered "systematic discrimination" and "an intimidating environment" in his role, and that after Browne had raised a grievance the trust had failed to take it seriously or investigate it sufficiently.
Browne claimed that the treatment severely affected him and left him close to a "mental breakdown."
Despite the trust's claim that it believed strongly that discrimination was not a factor in the case, the tribunal awarded Browne £933,115 for unfair dismissal, aggravated damages and loss of earnings and pension.
There has been a 32 per cent increase in four years in the number of complaints of racism against the police, according to a Freedom of Information request. The Association of Chief Police Officers' (ACPO) didn't deny the figures but said most "interactions" with the public "end well".
The number of complaints has gone from 687 in 2007 to 904 in 2010, the Daily Mirror reported, pointing out that police officers who were found to have possessed "racist propaganda", sent racist emails and made racist jokes were still in their jobs.
Racist allegations against the Metropolitan Police in particular had gone from 370 in 2007 to 464 in 2010 (although this is down from 500 in 2009). At the same time, just 22 of last year's allegations were "substantiated", race crimes solved by the Met went from 32 per cent to 50 per cent.
Metropolitan Police Commander Peter Spindler said: "While any rise in complaints is disappointing, we are encouraged that the public have the confidence to report complaints to us and know they will be listened to and taken seriously."
And ACPO's lead for equality, diversity and human rights, Chief Constable Stephen Otter, said: "Police officers have thousands of interactions with members of the public each day and most end well. Since the MacPherson report, both the satisfaction with the police among black and minority ethnic communities, and their willingness to come forward and complain when things go wrong has risen.
Equality Matters will be delighted to provide a specific course that is bespoke and tailored to your organisation. Our consultants will be pleased to discuss your precise requirements.
Our 'Making Difference Normal' e-learning course takes into account the Equality Act 2010 and addresses all of the nine protected characteristics contained therein.
These replace the 'six strands' and now consist of the protected characteristics of:-
Equality Matters is a UK member of this European Union Campaign.
