The Minister for Women and Equalities, Liz Truss, has announced a new approach to tackling inequality. The UK Government’s ‘fight for fairness’ initiative seeks to break down the barriers to social mobility and create equality of opportunity for everyone, including all members of the BAME community.
In a speech she gave earlier this month, Truss made it clear that the UK Government intended to root out inequality across the four nations. She placed strong emphasis on evidence-based initiatives ‘led by facts not fashion’. The cornerstone of this evidence-based approach is the collection of data to inform decisions. The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities will run a data project with the aim of gathering information to better understand the obstacles that people from every background face across the UK. It will consider a wide range of issues including race, sex, geography and social environment.
When it comes to solving social disparities, education is a critical tool. Ensuring that every child in Britain has access to high-quality schooling is one of the UK Government’s top priorities. The creation of free schools in England and Wales allowed more children from deprived backgrounds to access institutions rated outstanding by Ofsted. However, due to their popularity, they have become woefully oversubscribed. Truss made it clear that she would work with the Department for Education to create more free schools in deprived areas particularly outside of London.
Alongside education employment was given top priority. The Minister made it clear that ‘it is not right that sometimes having a particular surname or accent can make it harder for people to get a job’. However, she also warned that ‘study after study had shown unconscious bias training does not improve equality, and in fact can backfire by reinforcing stereotypes and exacerbating division’. Instead, transparency is the key to success. Measures such as the publication of wage ranges, automatic promotion based on performance and evidence-driven recruitment help break down the barriers faced by those who might not otherwise have access to specific opportunities.
Overall, the Minister’s speech sought to dispel the left-wing notion that protected characteristics define people. For too long, the equality debate has been dominated by a small number of voices who claim that unconscious bias training, quotas and diversity statements are needed to achieve equality of outcome at all costs. Promoting the interests of some by deliberately holding others back is an incredibly divisive method of forced uniformity. The Conservatives offer equality of opportunity as an alternative. Ensuring that talented individuals from any background can succeed in open and transparent organisations.