Nanny State at work again...

Ministers under fire for sending 2,000 fake job applications to find out if employers are racist

Civil servants have sent out thousands of bogus job applications to businesses in an effort to expose racism.

Ministers were under fire last night for backing the research project which was condemned as 'unethical and underhand'.

The applications were written with false identities to see whether firms were unfairly rejecting jobhunters with foreign-sounding names

Solicitor General Vera Baird said initial results suggested 'there was quite a strong sense that there is race discrimination going on'.

Ministers already spend £70million a year on an equality quango, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which is charged with investigating alleged racism among employers. 

But the fake job application scheme was devised within the Department of Work and Pensions, the ministry responsible for paying most benefits and trying to get the jobless back into work.

Its Secretary of State Yvette Cooper presides over an Ethnic Minority and Employment Task Force which devised the trick 'research'.

Officials conducted the exercise by putting in two or more applications for each of 1,000 job vacancies.

CVs would be similar, but the applications would be signed either with a traditional British name or one that looked as if it belonged to an applicant from an ethnic minority.

Employers who offered interviews to the fake applicants were put through to a mobile phone number, where their offer was declined.

Miss Baird, who is in charge of pushing Deputy Labour Leader Harriet Harman's Equality Bill through the Commons, has said the research could lead to an addition to the Bill banning employers from asking for names from applicants before they offer an interview.

Such a ban, she said, would also help women overcome discrimination from employers.

A spokesman for the DWP said: 'The Ethnic Minority Employment Task Force is charged with finding a solution to the persistent employment gap experienced by ethnic minorities. This research was commissioned by the Task Force to identify and tackle any underlying causes.

'It is not about highlighting any individual company and all information gathered will remain completely anonymous.'

She added that the Confederation of British Industry was represented on the Task Force and would be aware of the research.

But the CBI said: 'Job applicants are already protected from discrimination when going through the recruitment process and can take legal action if treated differently.'

Tory work and pensions spokesman Theresa May said the research was 'a waste of taxpayers' cashand described the idea of banning employers from knowing the names of job applicants as ' unworkable'.

Gareth Elliott of the British Chambers of Commerce said his organisation has advised against the ' unethical' research.

'We are completely shocked to hear the DWP has gone ahead,' he said. 'Businesses have enough on their plate without having to deal with the underhand tactics of the DWP.'

Miss Harman also wants to use her Equality Bill to get more women, black and disabled people on to the boards of public bodies through active discrimination.

She wants to increase the ratio of female and ethnic minorities among 18,500 board members on the 1,200 organisations accountable to the Government.

Such public groups include the Big Lottery Fund, English Heritage and the Gambling Commission.

Under the Bill, ministers making such appointments could discriminate against equally-qualified white males without fear of being sued.

But critics fear the proposals could see white men missing out unfairly on posts, while the Tories accused the Government of missing every equality and diversity target set for senior civil service posts.

Earlier this month Miss Harman said she hoped her plan for 'positive action' would be adopted by other employers.

EMPLOY US.....OR ELSE!!!!