Ethnicity - National
The 2011 Census shows that 87% of people in the UK are White, and 13% belong to a Black, Asian, Mixed or Other ethnic group.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) based on population survey figures from 2019, people from ethnic minority backgrounds make up 14.4% of the United Kingdom (16.1% for England, 5.9% for Wales, 5.4% for Scotland and 2.2% for Northern Ireland)
The chart below shows that South Asian ethnic groups combined had the highest percentage of minority ethnic group born in the UK in 2011. Polish and African groups combined form the highest Non-UK born groups.
Scotland
The 2011 Scottish Census revealed that Scotland became more ethnically diverse from 2001 to 2011, with the non-white minority ethnic population doubling from 2% to 4% of the total 23 population, or 210,996 people.
Private Sector Employment
People of Pakistani origin (49,381) were the largest BME group, making up almost a quarter (23.4%) of the BME population. This was followed by those of Chinese origin (33,706) at 15.97%, Indian origin (32,706) at 15.5%, African origin (29,638) at 14%, the other Asian group (21,097) at 10% and those from mixed or multiple groups (19,815) at 9.39%:
Black employees hold just 1.5 per cent of top management roles in the UK private sector, research has found; a figure that has increased just 0.1 percentage points since 2014.
A Business in the Community (BITC) report, Race at the Top: Revisited, found just 54,900 of the 3.9 million managers, directors and senior officials in the UK are black. According to the report, there has been even less progress on black representation in the public sector, where the number of black employees in leadership roles remained static at 1% over the same period.
These stats highlight a significant lack of racial diversity at the top of UK organisations across all sectors, particularly at senior levels. Black and minority ethnic (BME) individuals in the UK are both less likely to get in and get on in the workplace compared with their white counterparts. One in eight of the working-age population is from a BME background, yet they occupy only one in sixteen of top management positions.
- 30.2% of workers in the UK worked in the public administration, education and health sector in 2018 – the highest percentage out of all sectors
- the public administration, education and health sector employed the highest percentage of workers in almost every ethnic group
- the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group had a higher percentage of workers in the distribution, hotels and restaurants sector than any other ethnic group (30.7%)
In Scotland, minority ethnically diverse people continue to experience greater labour market inequalities. They continue to have unequal and disproportionate access to employment and representation at all levels, grades and occupation types in Scotland’s workforce. Both quantitative and qualitative evidence suggests there is consistent disparity between labour outcomes for white and minority ethnic populations. The latest minority ethnic unemployment rate in Scotland is more than double the white unemployment rate.
Some key considerations for employers to address key structural and cultural barriers based on these findings are
- Understand what is happening in your organisation
- Be aware of intersectionality and examine progression barriers through multiple lenses
- Critically appraise your organisation culture
- Actively encourage employee voice to inform change
- Address unconscious bias, macroaggressions and white privilege issues. (see sections here)
Tips for practitoners
- Provide practical support for race pay gap, recruitment etc. reporting
- Develop guidance for employer action
- Advocate and support better quality people management practice
For more info:
https://www.employabilityinscotland.com/policy/work-equalities/ethnic-minorities-and-employment/
Asylum dispersal rates in Scotland
Scotland’s total share of asylum seekers was 0.7% of our population and 0.6% of resettled refugees, who are identified outside of the UK and brought in with government and United Nations help.
Refugees and Asylum
GLASGOW has more asylum seekers than another other council area in the UK, according to a new study, which also showed that the majority were being housed in disadvantaged local authority areas while dozens of wealthy councils supported none.
The number of refugees resettled in Scotland during the two years of the pandemic dropped to less than a fifth of the average taken in the previous three years, official figures show.
Just 259 refugees were resettled in Scotland through the UK Government Resettlement Scheme during 2020 and 2021, with half of those coming in the first quarter of 2020 – before Covid-19 lockdowns began – according to data from the UK Government.
However, across the whole of the UK, only 1,960 refugees were brought to Britain through the scheme during 2020 and 2021 – meaning Scotland’s share totalled 13 per cent, well above the population share of 8.15 per cent.
Overall, 824 refugees were resettled in Scotland through the UK Government Resettlement Scheme during 2017, 617 in 2018 and 650 in 2019. In 2020, the total was just 128.
Separately, Scotland has resettled more than 360 people – totalling 86 families – under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP), the emergency relocation scheme for Afghans who previously worked for the British Government and who are assessed to be at “serious risk of threat to life”, according to Scottish Government figures for the period up to 6 December. In addition to the existing scheme for those who worked with the British military, a separate Afghan Citizens’ Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), confirmed in August, is due to launch, however, has not yet been implemented.
Refugees can be resettled in the UK via two main routes – the first is the UK Resettlement Scheme, where asylum seekers living in refugee camps around the world are flown directly to the UK and placed in local authorities. Under this route, they are given support from local councils, such as housing and an allowance, until they can be registered for benefits.
Under the dispersal scheme, refugees who make their way independently to the UK – such as people who already have been living here temporarily, but fear persecution if they return to their home country – or those who travel here by air or sea to claim asylum, must do so in person in London. If they are granted leave to remain, they are dispersed to local authorities across the UK which have agreed to take refugees under this system. In Scotland, Glasgow is the only local authority that does so.
The Scottish Government said all 32 local authorities have confirmed commitment to participate in all the Afghanistan relocation and resettlement schemes.
Refugees can be resettled in the UK via two main routes – the first is the UK Resettlement Scheme, where asylum seekers living in refugee camps around the world are flown directly to the UK and placed in local authorities. Under this route, they are given support from local councils, such as housing and an allowance, until they can be registered for benefits.
Under the dispersal scheme, refugees who make their way independently to the UK – such as people who already have been living here temporarily, but fear persecution if they return to their home country – or those who travel here by air or sea to claim asylum, must do so in person in London. If they are granted leave to remain, they are dispersed to local authorities across the UK which have agreed to take refugees under this system. In Scotland, Glasgow is the only local authority that does so.
