Capital failing on diversity

Despite London being the most diverse city in the UK, its construction workforce is still dominated by white men,

according to a new report.

The Construction Industry

in London and Diversity Performance blames a ‘fragmented’ industry for

failing to reflect the make-up

of the capital’s population

and has led to a call for a

return to direct employment.

Published last month on behalf of the Mayor of London, the report says: ‘Fragmentation of the industry into complex chains of managing contractors and subcontractors acts to diffuse the diversity agenda and hampers overall responsibility.’ Long, irregular shifts and inadequate links between training provision and employer needs were also considered significant obstacles.

Construction union UCATT London and south-east regional secretary Jerry Swain, speaking at the launch of the report, said: ‘We welcome the report but while there’s no quick fix solution the answer is through proper training, which has been going backwards for the last 30 years, linked to a return to direct employment.’

The report calls on local authorities to include clear, consistent obligations for implementing and monitoring diversity-related measures in Section 106 agreements with developers. But Swain warned: ‘106 agreements are only successful if they leave a local community with a higher skills base than before its implementation.’

Also speaking at the launch was Durkan’s community liaison officer, Paul McCrea. The south-east construction group has actively pursued female employees for a number of years. McCrea said: ‘We found employment for over 200 women at Durkans. At one point, 40% of our direct labour force was female.’

But McCrea added that despite difficulties, taking a zero tolerance approach soon changed attitudes. ‘We’ve dismissed a contractor from site for making sexist comments,’ he said and suggested the way forward was direct action. ‘Contractors need

to tell their supply chain that they’ll be working with trainees and apprentices, both male and female. It’s included in our order documents.’