Inclusive Society

Baroness Mobarik Excerpts

Wednesday 14th April 2021 Grand Committee

[Baroness Mobarik (Con)]

My Lords, it is universally stated that we are living in an interconnected world, but the sad reality is that we are not yet living in an interconnected country. While as a nation we stand tall, and I agree with my noble friend Lord Dobbs that as a country we have done a great deal, having passed more legislation on race relations and equal opportunities than most other countries, we must admit that we have struggling communities and a dangerous undercurrent of disenfranchisement and social marginalisation.

The pandemic has changed many things and many voices are emerging on what may change as we adapt to this new normality. I will not hypothesise on what may change, but instead, with your Lordships’ indulgence, I will focus on what must change if we are to live up to the ambition of creating a truly inclusive society.

The rising rate of unemployment and the significant changes to labour markets of recent months cannot be ignored. I therefore welcome the Government’s programme of economic support, including the highly praised Kickstart Scheme, which is doing sterling work across the country to create new and, hopefully, long-lasting employment for young people.

This moment in our history will be marked by how we face up to the harsh realities exposed by the pandemic. The statistics speak for themselves and require our immediate attention. In June, we witnessed a blow to gender diversity, with all-male boards returning to the FTSE 350. Gender diversity at the top is fundamental to an inclusive society and I would therefore welcome an update from my noble friend the Minister on what work the Government are doing here to rectify a problem that, if left, will see us slip back into the unsavoury habits of old, and to consider what more could be done to ensure that more women take up trusteeships and stand for election to local councils, so that more women from all backgrounds take up community leadership roles.

We know that those from ethnic minorities have suffered the most, as temporary work and zero-hour contracts ground to a halt throughout the national lockdown, and we know that white males from low-income families are the group least likely to be offered places at university. So, as businesses start to consider how they will operate differently in the future and stand up to these issues of inclusion and diversity, as legislators we must now do the same.

All too often, we try to fix problems such as unemployment retrospectively. I have sat through countless meetings and debates on how we get people back to work, when the conversation we should be having is about how we ensure that future generations have the skills needed for jobs that may not even exist yet. We must move from the band-aid approach on jobs before the wounds in our society become too deep to cover.

All us of know that the bedrock of a truly inclusive society lies in our ability to close the widening skills gap. I ask the Government for an update on what is being done to make sure that we equip our workforce with the right skills to embrace the jobs of the future. Perhaps my noble friend may give further thought to how we can mobilise local government to prioritise future skills needs when considering locally significant commercial planning applications and infrastructure projects.

When I evaluate the digital transformation that we have seen in recent months and our progression through the fourth industrial revolution, I am excited by the opportunities that are waiting on the horizon which will see the United Kingdom become a global leader in areas such as space technology, AI and the green economy. But here lies the challenge: if, for example, we are to develop world-leading space ports in Scotland then we must now turn our attention to upskilling and retraining, particularly in areas such as STEM, so that, when these jobs of the future come, it is the local workforces which stand ready to embrace them.

Finally, as we use phrases such as “build back better”, we should pause and ask ourselves who we are building back better for. We need a fundamental shift in mindset, in which government, local government and the private sector work hand in hand to enable everyone, regardless of their ethnicity or background, to have a stake in society and thus a chance to contribute to the wider good.