Sections:
Freedom of Information Act 2000, request no. F2006/170
Date of release 17 July 2006
Race Relations Act and job advertising
On how many occasions this year have you advertised a job position, vacancy or opportunity using the provisions as covered by section 37(1) of the Race Relations Act 1976? (Employers can take such positive action where over the previous twelve months no-one from a particular racial group, or only very few persons from that racial group, have been doing a certain type of work. In these situations then it is lawful to offer training only for people from that racial group or to encourage people from that racial group to apply. The advert for example could contain an entry such as - you will need to be of African, African-Caribbean, Asian or Chinese descent.)
DFID has never advertised a job using the provisions as covered by section 37(1) of the Race Relations Act 1976. Our vacancies are advertised on a competitive basis and selection is made strictly on merit in accordance with the Civil Service Commissioners Recruitment code.