DCMS ethnic minority representation in the spotlight
by Matthew Campelli | 05 Jan 2017
Crouch (second from right) published the Governance Code after introducing it in her Sporting Future strategy / David Davies/PA Wire/PA Images
The government department responsible for publishing UK Sports Governance Code – which has thrown the diversity of sports boards into the limelight – has enlisted the help of senior ethnic minority civil servants to help boost its own representation credentials.
Sports Management understands that the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is working with Race To The Top, a network of senior Whitehall officials launched by Sir Jeremy Heywood, to increase ethnic minority representation among its staff.
Of the 11 members of the DCMS’s executive team, only one individual (9 per cent) comes from a black, Asian or ethnic minority (BAME) background.
On top of that, 64 (17 per cent) of the 380-plus employees at DCMS class themselves as BAME.
However, DCMS’s permanent secretary Sue Owens is the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Champion, and the department has committed to name-blind recruitment and anonymised CVs for recruitment procedures.
Last year, DCMS’s sports minister Tracey Crouch published the UK Sports Governance Code which put female and BAME representation at the heart of good governance, and set targets and aspirations for diverse leadership in sport.
While there was a 30 per cent quota set for female board members at national governing bodies that are eligible for government funding through UK Sport and Sport England, there were no hard and fast targets for those from ethnic minority groups.
Governing bodies, though, are expected to “demonstrate a strong and public commitment to progressing towards greater diversity on boards”.
If targets are not hit and progress is not apparent, then bodies could potentially lose public funding.
DCMS also makes appointments to the boards of UK Sport and Sport England – the government’s arm’s-length elite and grassroots funding partners respectively, and the organisations tasked with putting together the Governance Code.
Both quangos have more than 30 per cent female representation on both boards, although a lack of ethnic diversity is also prevalent.
Of Sport England’s 12-strong board, two (17 per cent) come from BAME backgrounds, although the recent appointments of Sported chief executive Chris Grant and Leicestershire County Cricket Club chief executive Wasim Khan was a positive step forward.
Only one of the 10 board members of UK Sport comes from an ethnically diverse background.
A UK Sport spokesperson told Sports Management: "The UK Sports Governance Code set out clear targets for gender diversity and expectations around meaningful action plans and public reporting on BAME representation, which UK Sport, like every other sports body in receipt of public funding, must comply with.”
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The government department responsible for publishing UK Sports Governance Code – which has thrown the diversity of sports boards into the limelight – has enlisted the help of senior ethnic minority civil servants to help boost its own representation credentials. Sports Management understands that the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is working with Race To The Top, a network of senior Whitehall officials launched by Sir Jeremy Heywood,
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