A beacon of excellence

Waqar Azmi, Chief Diversity Adviser to the Civil Service, outlines the government’s plans and commitment to diversity

“When I took up my post, I agreed on the need for the civil service to be three things: relevant to people, a force for change that capitalises on diversity and a beacon of excellence for everyone in society. This will enable policies and services to be developed in a way that results in better outcomes for everyone and enable Government to work with communities more effectively.

We have come a long way with diversity, yet still have a long way to go. Organisations are still snow-capped; everyone wants to show their commitment to diversity, but results do not match words. The snow has yet to melt. Minority groups are being asked to fit perfectly into a prevailing culture, without being allowed to ask questions about that culture. Those people who want to see change go from euphoria to despair every day.

The civil service is not a bad reflection of society, but we need to advance in the same way needed by the post-16 education sector, which is with our senior leadership. I have brought in a 10-point plan to address this. This aims to set challenging targets linked to the bonuses given to permanent secretaries; to guarantee talented disabled people a promotional interview; to expect every senior civil servant to mentor a person from an under-represented group; to give recruitment agencies contracts to attract black and ethnic minorities; to include a meaningful diversity objective linked to the pay system of every employee.

Civil Service equal opportunities policy provides that all eligible people must have equality of opportunity for employment and advancement based on their suitability for the work. There must be no unfair discrimination on the basis of age, disability, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, religion or belief, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, or (in Northern Ireland) community background, working pattern, employment status, gender identity (transgender), caring responsibility, trade union membership.

Whilst Departments themselves determine their diversity priorities, and are accountable for their own decisions and actions, Cabinet Office is responsible for ensuring that the Civil Service as a whole meets the Government's commitment to achieving greater representation of minority ethnic staff, women and staff with disabilities at senior levels.

Our April 2008 PSA target is to work with Departments to build the capacity of the Civil Service to deliver the Government's priorities, by improving leadership, skills and diversity and, in the longer term, work to ensure that the Civil Service at all levels reflects the diversity of the population.

Our responsibilities are:

Identifying key policy issues for the service as a whole and for sharing best practice across departments;
Supporting departments in developing and implementing their diversity policies;
Working closely with the Civil Service Unions;
Linking to the Equality Co-ordination Unit in the DTI, which draws together

legislation, policy, public sector targets and other work under the headings:
- cross cutting issues
- article 13
- race
- disability
- gender
- sexual orientation
- age
- religion

Through my experience in both the public and private sectors, I have learned the critical value of diversity in organisations. Our Civil Service has to be a thought and practice leader and a beacon for change and leading-edge best practice for everyone. A truly representative Civil Service workforce, including at the most senior levels, will enable policies and services to be developed in ways which will result in better outcomes for everyone in society and will enable us to work with all communities more effectively.”

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