Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question HL2771 on Civil Servants: Recruitment and pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2024 to Question 14502 on Gender: Equality, if she will issue guidance to public bodies to stop the practice of internship programmes which restrict applications on the basis of race or ethnicity.

The Equality Act 2010 (The Act) provides protections for people from discrimination in the workplace and in society. It makes it unlawful to treat someone unfairly or discriminate against anyone based on certain personal characteristics. This includes race and ethnicity.

The Act also makes it unlawful for recruiters to hire by race, where the person is to be paid under a contract for services. Under certain conditions, a recruiter choosing between candidates of equal merit can hire the candidate from the more disadvantaged or lower-participating race or ethnicity. This is one type of ‘positive action’. Positive action can deliver better outcomes for particular groups in order to overcome or minimise a disadvantage arising from a protected characteristic.

In April 2023, the previous government published guidance to help employers understand the difference between positive action and positive discrimination. The guidance is available on gov.uk at www.gov.uk/government/publications/positive-action-in-the-workplace-guidance-for-employers. Section 9 of this guidance explains the general positive action provision. Section 10.2 explains tie-breaking in more detail. With this considered, there are currently no plans to issue further guidance to public bodies on positive action.