Community, CSR management, Employees

Around 90,000 lone parents in the UK have immediate potential within the labour market and could be quickly freed from the benefits trap, according to Sue Slipman of the National Council for One Parent Families. She was speaking at a conference on March 3 for TECs and other organisations, also addressed by Gillian Shephard MP. Of the 1.2 million lone parents, some 900,000 live on benefits. Some have skills and could return immediately to work, if barriers such as childcare were overcome. Others need greater assistance with training, but the savings in benefits on the former could be invested in the latter.

Gillian Shephard gave an overview of government provision for lone parents, stressing the r"le of TECs in providing innovative solutions. Contact Gill Hargreaves, NCOPF, on 071 267 1361

Companies supplying Newcastle upon Tyne Council will have to meet the Council's race equality requirements from April 1, in a new scheme launched with support from the Commission for Racial Equality and Tyneside TEC. The aim is to ensure companies do not discriminate in their employment practices, by obliging contractors to have a written equality policy statement and to monitor the ethnic composition of their workforces. The scheme does not exceed the terms of the 1988 Local Government Act which restricted contract compliance measures. Minority ethnic communities in Newcastle total about 4% of the population. Contact Information Unit, Newcastle, on 091 232 8520

Black people are losing out when it comes to training opportunities provided by TECs, according to a report published in February by the Black Training and Enterprise Group and NCVO. Based on a survey of 46 TECs, Investing in Black People found a quarter did not have a stated policy of promoting race equality and less than half had implemented a policy of racial monitoring. The report makes over 20 recommendations for improvement to the employment service and TECs. Available from NCVO Publications 071 713 6161; 50pp A4 price £6.95 ISBN 0 7199 1377 2

Recession-led unemployment has hit minority ethnic groups harder than the general white population, according the Commission for Racial Equality. Based on figures published in February, it says the gap between unemployment rates has return to mid-eighties levels, when the rate for black people was double that of whites. Young men are particularly badly affected. The CRE also warned local authorities in February not to use "last in, first out" principles to reduce jobs, as black people would suffer disproportionate disadvantage.

However the PSI reports that professionals from some minority ethnic groups are almost as well placed as their white counterparts. In a comprehensive study of Britain's ethnic minorities published on March 19, it finds evidence of social mobility especially in the Indian, African and Asian communities. It concludes that while all racial minorities still face discrimination, the disparity is more complicated than previously. Contact CRE on 071 932 5354 or PSI on 071 387 2171

The Employers' Forum on Disability celebrated its first anniversary on March 31 with a survey of members showing widespread action:

more than half have adapted buildings or installed technology such as minicoms (typing telephones)

a third are improving services to disabled customers

one in six are using the government's 'two tick symbol'.

The report was launched by Nicholas Scott MP, Minster for Social Security and the Disabled, at the Bank of England. Contact Susan Scott-Parker, EFD, on 071 260 5778

The RNIB launched a new scheme to help disabled people keep their jobs, with support from leading employers such as Midland Bank and Barclays Bank. On March 23 it published a full how-to-do-it guide for employers called Disability Leave. Disabled people sometimes give up their jobs unnecessarily with the onset of their disability, at considerable cost to the individual and the employer. A period of leave, with the job held open, can allow an informed decision to take place. Contact Gillian Paschkes Bell, RNIB, on 071 388 1266

Corporate Citizenship Briefing, issue no: 9 - March, 1993