Harman's gender and race targets at odds

Friday, August 08, 2008

Plans to promote equality in the private sector are hanging in the balance after Chancellor Alistair Darling expressed oposition.

Harriet Harman, the deputy Labour leader and minister for equality has proposed measures to change procurement rules which would require certain gender and racial equality targets to be met within the companies that do business with the government.

While Harman’s proposals would not go as far as some initiatives in the US that require private sector companies that do business with the government to be minority owned or employ a majority of minorities, the proposals would require companies to disclose the rate of pay between genders and the number of ethnic minority and disabled people it employs.

Darling is believed to be strongly against the proposals since they would make it harder to cut red tape and incorporate smaller firms in governent business. EU labour and procuement laws would also be called into question.

Concerns over efficency have also been raised. The government would risk bypassing companies with a proven track record for delivery and relability in order to award unproven firms contracts because they meet certain gender and minority employment and pay targets.

Harman though is committed to the new regulations to narrow the gender gap.

"This does not need to wait for specific legislation," she said recently, hinting that the new requirements are already being developed.