Companies that bid for lucrative government contracts in the United Kingdom are set to be rejected if they do not employ enough black and Asian workers under a pilot scheme.
A government committee has drawn up plans to question competing firms about their attitudes towards race before awarding contracts, a media report said on Monday.
The firms will be asked to provide figures showing the number of blacks and Asians employed. These will be compared to the proportion of people from ethnic minorities living near the company's offices and will be a factor when deciding on the winning bid, The Times said in London.
Three pilot schemes have been authorised with the support of 10, Downing Street -- the first time that 'positive vetting' in procurement has been approved by the British government. It follows the release of statistics showing that people from ethnic minorities are twice as likely to be unemployed as the white majority.
The plans were approved last month by the Ethnic Minority Employment Task Force, which brings together seven government departments and comprises as many ministers. According to Iqbal Wahhab, a task force member and chairman of the Ethnic Minority Advisory Group, a government-backed think tank, the plans were moving ahead quickly.
"These new procurement policies are required to assist employers in making more enlightened recruitment decisions," Wahhab said. "It may be unpopular in certain quarters, but the fact remains that we should not have been in this kind of position in the first place."
If the pilot schemes are successful, positive vetting across other government departments could be introduced in 2007, the report quoted a source as saying.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman said the pilot schemes had been approved after consultation with business leaders, unions and the Commission for Racial Equality.
The three schemes involve contracts with Job Centre Plus, the Identity and Passport Agency and the Department for Education and Skills.
