Recommendation 12

The Department’s current flagship programmes are aimed at youth unemployment, and the long term unemployed. There are relatively few schemes targeted at people from an ethnic minority background.29 The Department did tell us about its 20 challenge areas, which are 20 areas within England, Scotland and Wales with a high ethnic minority population and a high gap between the ethnic minority and white employment rate.30 The Department said that these areas are subject to “targeted action”, which can include working with jobcentres to make sure they are properly equipped, and working with employers to make sure that they understand the opportunities to bring people in from different communities to address issues around unconscious bias.31 We also heard about how the Department participates in local initiatives to improve employment outcomes for ethnic minorities.32 Following the session, the Department wrote to us saying where the 20 local authority areas were, and giving further details on some of the activities in those areas.33 Being transparent about performance