According to an independent report, commissioned by the council at a cost of £67,000, there are too few managers at Bradford Council who are from ethnic minority backgrounds.
A focus group was held with Council staff by consultants Hay Group. They found that there were concerns regarding those from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds. They felt overlooked for promotion and complained that their abilities were not recognised by managers due to “conscious or unconscious bias”.
There was only 10% of senior managers who were non-white, which has now risen to 13%.
It was also uncovered that there was a wider frustration among staff members who felt that the culture was inflexible, there were restricted by too many rules and that managers did not like to be challenged.
Councillor Ishtiaq Ahmed (Bradford Independent Group, Manningham) said, “We are one of the biggest employers in the city, yet the representation at senior level is unbalanced, to say the least. We have had some fantastic individuals that worked for this authority but we never elevated into senior positions.”
