Bristol City Council BAME staff promoted more slowly

A Bristol newspaper exposed a culture of "deep-rooted culture of institutional racism"

Black and minority ethnic (BAME) council staff are being promoted more slowly than their white colleagues, a report has revealed.

The "unacceptable" gap comes days after a newspaper investigation exposed Bristol City Council's "deep-rooted culture of institutional racism".

Between October and December last year, 139 City Hall employees were promoted.

But the council's report shows the BAME progression rate in that period was 2%, compared with 2.13% for non-BAME staff.

In its report - presented to the council's resources scrutiny commission - the authority laid out plans to tackle inequality, including the expansion of its Stepping Up partnership programme for aspiring BAME leaders.

Bullying complaints

Labour councillor Mark Brain told the commission: "You can't make people apply for a job but you can ensure that people progress at the same rate.

"I really don't think that's acceptable that there is not the same level of progression for BAME and non-BAME."

The previous investigation, by the Bristol Post, revealed complaints of bullying and discrimination, which victims said were not dealt with effectively.

The authority admitted equality and diversity had "not been anywhere near where it should be" historically.

In a statement to Bristol Live last month, the council's executive director of resources Mike Jackson said: "Our equality and inclusion strategy, published in November 2018, demonstrates that creating a fair and inclusive organisation sits at the heart of everything we are trying to achieve.

"So when we receive complaints which question our commitment to this, it is deeply troubling."