Attempts to increase ethnic diversity within the top tiers of the UK’s biggest public service institutions have ground to a halt, with senior managers in Whitehall, local authorities and major charities almost entirely white, a survey has claimed.
Despite official attempts to promote diversity, only a handful of people of black or Asian ethnicity occupy posts in the top four grades of the senior civil service, according to the survey, with senior executive management teams in most government departments 100% white.
Local government fares little better, with no non-white council chief executives in London’s 32 local authorities, England’s eight biggest city councils and 27 country councils. Almost all of the chief executives of UK’s 25 biggest charities are white.
The survey looked at gender diversity and found that although women occupy an increasing proportion of the lowest-rung posts in the senior civil service, the numbers breaking into top Whitehall roles has fallen over the past two years. Women occupy about 40% of senior executive roles in local government – defined as top two tiers of management – but are less likely to occupy to chief executive or chief officer roles.
In the top charities, women hold 41% of senior management positions, but are far less likely to be in chief executive roles, a phenomenon the survey described as “silverback syndrome”: a reference to gorilla communities where one dominant male is supported by several females.
Executive search firm Green Park, which carried out the survey, concluded that progress towards a more ethnically diverse public sector leadership had stagnated, despite attempts to make institutions more reflective of wider UK society. “We still have a very long way to go to achieve the best public leadership mix our diverse society can offer. This year’s data shows that we have actually regressed, in general, across the board,” said Raj Tulsiani, Green Park’s chief executive officer.
Last month, Theresa May ordered a race audit of public services, though this was presented as a monitoring of how ethnic background affects service users’ experience of the NHS, education and criminal justice, rather than the ethnic make up of senior management.
Senior minority ethnic public and voluntary sector leaders include Sharon White, the former top Treasury official who heads the media regulator Ofcom, and Javed Khan, the chief executive of Barnardo’s, the children’s charity.
Just seven of the 38 permanent and second-permanent secretary-level positions in Whitehall are occupied by women, including Sally Davies, the chief medical officer for England, and Alison Saunders, the director of public prosecutions.
A Cabinet Office spokesman said the most recent official figures from March 2015 showed 10.6% of all civil servants were from a black and minority ethnic (BAME) background and 4.1% were in senior roles – slightly higher than Green Park’s 3% figure.
The spokesman said: “The civil service is committed to being a place where, regardless of background, everyone can thrive. Our aspiration is to be the UK’s most inclusive employer. We are working hard to increase diversity in the civil service, including the representation of BAME staff at the most senior grades.”
Minority ethnic people make up about 13% of the UK population and 40% of London’s population.
The survey, carried out in December 2015, mapped the gender and ethnocultural diversity of selected board and executive leaders in public organisations and charities.
