UNITED RACES: Foreign & Commonwealth Office Race Relations 2

Foreign & Commonwealth Office Race Relations 2

From: derrick_lynch@hotmail.co.uk
To: d&i.team@fco.gov.uk; diversity2@fco.gov.uk; publiccorrespondence@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
CC: info@irr.org.uk; george.ruddock@gvmedia.co.uk; omar@runnymedetrust.org; mail@davidlammy.co.uk; lammyd@parliament.uk; james.nazroo@manchester.ac.uk; williamssb@parliament.uk; everton_young@yahoo.co.uk; toyin@ligali.org; sgrover@tmg-uk.org; sscott@tmg-uk.org
Subject: RE: Foreign & Commonwealth Office Race Relations
Date: Thu, 4 Jun 2015 12:26:49 +0100

Dear Diversity and Inclusion Team, Foreign & Commonwealth Office,

Thank you for your reply.

You wrote:
"The FCO are committed to the Civil Service Talent Action Plans and we publish annual Diversity and Equality reports to be transparent about our performance. "

I have read the Foreign & Commonwealth Office "Refreshed Talent Action Plan: Removing the barriers to success March 2015" and have not been able to find any specific reference to Race Relations. Please specify exactly where Race Relations is mentioned / addressed.

You wrote:
"The FCO’s “Fairness for All” strategy set a target for 5% black and ethnic minority (BME) staff in the FCO Senior Management Service (SMS). In October 2014, the FCO"

I have read the Foreign & Commonwealth Office "Fairness for All" and have not been able to find any specific reference to Race Relations. Please specify exactly where Race Relations is mentioned / addressed.

You wrote:
"The FCO has implemented a broad range of initiatives to help support BME talent including: tailored sponsorship; "

Question 1:
Are any White people included in the BME talent initiative?

I was unable to find any information about Race Relations in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office Diversity and Inclusion Reports. There is information about BME but nothing specifically about Race Relations.

I fail to see how the Foreign & Commonwealth Office can have "due regard" for Race Relations without having any Racial data.

I am finding that the Diversity and Inclusion Reports disappointingly reveal much about the values, ethos and culture in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office with regard to Race Relations.

There appears to be a Race missing in the Diversity and Inclusion reports. It appears that no effort has been made to record, monitor and report on the difference between the IC1 White North European Race (Caucasoid) and the IC2 Dark South European Race (Melanochroid). It is possible that there could be horrific inequalities between the IC1 White North European Race (Caucasoid) and the IC2 Dark South European Race (Melanochroid) that have not been reported.

Question 2:
Does the Foreign & Commonwealth Office record, monitor and report on Race Relations between the IC1 White North European Race (Caucasoid) and the IC2 Dark South European Race (Melanochroid), like the Police do?

________________________________________________________________

The Public Sector Equality Duty (Equality Act 2010) requires public authorities to have ‘due regard’ to the need to:

1. Eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Act.

2. Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and people who do not share it.

3. Foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not share it.

I am concerned about the management of European Race Relations and not about Ethnicity Relations or Diversity Relations.

Race a Protected Characteristic

As you probably know Race is one of the "Protected Characteristics" in the Equality Act 2010.

Refers to the protected characteristic of Race. It refers to a group of people defined by their race, colour, and nationality (including citizenship) ethnic or national origins.

Note 1: http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/private-and-public-sector-guidance/guidance-all/protected-characteristics

Race as defined by the British Police

Code

Ethnicity

IC1

White - North European / White European

IC2

White - South European / Dark European

IC3

Black

IC4

Asian (in the UK Asian refers to people from the Indian subcontinent like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal)

IC5

Chinese, Japanese, or other South East Asian

IC6

Arabic or North African / Middle Eastern

IC9

Unknown

Note 2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_codes#cite_note-mpabriefing-2

Please follow these links to understand the Official British Government codification of the differences between Race and Ethnicity.

Source:http://policeauthority.org/metropolitan/publications/briefings/2007/0703/index.html

Source: http://century.guardian.co.uk/1970-1979/Story/0,6051,106880,00.html

Race not to be confused with Ethnicity

I have given the link to the Ethnicity Data Standard as specified by the Information Standards Board to make it clear that I am not asking for Ethnicity information.

Source: http://www.education.gov.uk/escs-isb/standardslibrary/a0077051/ethnicity-data-standard

Failure to manage Race Relations effectively results in the failure to address the problem of Racism.

________________________________________________________________

Race Relations query

Please would you send me the contact details of the person responsible for Race Relations in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office who may be able to help me find any Foreign & Commonwealth Office information showing that “due regard” has been exercised in recording and monitoring Race Relations between the IC1 White Northern European Race (Caucasoid) and the IC2 Dark Southern European Race (Melanochroid) as required by the Public Sector Equality Duty (Equality Act 2010).

It is very clear that the Police recognise the Racial difference between the IC1 White North European (Caucasoid) and the IC2 Dark South European Races (Melanochroid) and record and use this data for Race Relations purposes.

I am very concerned that no effort is being made to achieve European Race Equality. It is possible that the poor management of Race and Ethnicity in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office could be impacting policy in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and impacting the decisions being made in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

It is possible that there are poor Race Relations between the IC1 White North European Race (Caucasoid) and the IC2 Dark South European Race (Melanochroid) in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and that this dreadful inequality is impacting relations between other Races and causing Foreign & Commonwealth problems.

I am concerned that poor management of Race Relations in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office is resulting in misconduct which is making the Foreign & Commonwealth Office not fit for purpose.

I look forward to a reply on this very serious issue.

King regards

Derrick Lynch, Black, IC3, B9, BEUR

______________________________________________________________

The FCO’s Inclusion & Diversity Strategy 2008-13 (Final)
To request alternative formats please email: diversity2@fco.gov.uk or call 0207 008 5179

______________________________________________________________

Diversity and Inclusion
WHG.104
King Charles Street SW1A 2AH
Tel: 020 7008 5054 Fax: www.fco.gov.uk

Derrick Lynch
5 Hedge Hill
Enfield
EN2 8RU

02 June 2015

Dear Derrick Lynch

1. The Foreign & Commonwealth Office Race Relations Policy.

I attach the most recently-published FCO diversity strategy, the 2008-13 “Fairness for All” strategy. I also attach the current Civil Service Talent Action Plan, launched in March 2015. The FCO are committed to the Civil Service Talent Action Plans and we publish annual Diversity and Equality reports to be transparent about our performance.

2. A Foreign & Commonwealth Office report on how the Race Relations Policy has been performing to date.

The FCO’s “Fairness for All” strategy set a target for 5% black and ethnic minority (BME) staff in the FCO Senior Management Service (SMS). In October 2014, the FCO
Management Board committed to continue the strategy, which has increased the proportion of BME staff in the SMS to 4.1%. The FCO Management Board also set a new five-year target of 7% BME staff in the SMS by 2019.

3. Details of how the Foreign & Commonwealth Office manages and monitors Race Relations.

The racial or ethnic identity with which an individual chooses to identify is not self-evident. All FCO UK based staff are asked to provide diversity information, including about their ethnicity. This data is supplied on a voluntary basis. The FCO is working to improve diversity declaration rates by staff.
The FCO has implemented a broad range of initiatives to help support BME talent including: tailored sponsorship; leadership programmes; supporting flexible and part-time working; emphasising the importance of diverse interview short lists; and promoting unconscious bias awareness training. To bring in external diverse talent, the FCO has also developed a large scale outreach programme involving universities and schools, which was commended at the

C:\Users\yhaji\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Outlook Temp\150502 Derrick Lynch (2).docx

2014 Race for Opportunity awards. This was aimed at the recruitment, progression and development of BME staff. The campaign aimed to improve young peoples’ understanding of the organisation and to encourage more applications to our Fast Stream programme, particularly from BME communities. It also includes a leadership programme for high performing BME staff to prepare them for senior management and other targeted career development courses, mentoring and coaching.

4. Details of how many Black people are in and have been in Senior Management positions in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

The information requested is personal data relating to the specific ethnicity of employees, the disclosure of which would contravene one of the data protection principles. By separating out a specific ethnicity the data given by employees would be being used in a way contrary to what they expected. Therefore we cannot provide you with past or present data for Black people in the SMS.

Yours Sincerely

Diversity and Inclusion

From: D&I.Team@fco.gov.uk
To: derrick_lynch@hotmail.co.uk
Subject: FCO Response
Date: Thu, 4 Jun 2015 09:57:46 +0000

Dear Derrick

Please find attached our response your request.

1. Response.

2. FCO Diversity Strategy 2008-2013 which has been extended to 2015.

3. Talent Action Plan

4. Refreshed Talent Action Plan

Regards

Diversity and Inclusion Team***********************************************************************************
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