RAF ‘prioritised women and ethnic minorities’ to hit diversity target
‘We won’t accept any lowering of standards and we won’t accept any operational impact’
THE RAF “artificially inflated” its diversity numbers to hit governmentimposed targets, leaked documents reportedly show.
Recruitment officers were allegedly ordered to prioritise women and ethnic minorities on training courses, ditching the normal selection interviews to do so. Sources have revealed “pressure and direction” from senior leaders to give those candidates priority, with “no consideration” given to performance, beyond achieving a minimum standard.
This reportedly created an artificially enlarged pool of female and ethnic minority candidates to fill training courses, thereby helping quotas.
It comes days after it was revealed that the head of RAF recruitment had resigned from their role over an “effective pause on hiring white men”.
Positive discrimination, where someone is promoted solely because of a specific, protected characteristic, is illegal. However, an employer may legally take steps to improve diversity, known as positive action. The RAF has denied acting illegally in recruitment.
James Heappey, the Armed Forces minister, said yesterday that any evidence of positive discrimination would be investigated and not tolerated.
“We have asked for the Armed Forces to improve diversity, but we will not accept courses beginning anything other than full, and we won’t accept any lowering of standards, and we won’t accept any operational impact,” he said.
However, he added: “We’re content for the chief of the air staff and his team to look at what they could legally do in terms of positive action, providing that the conditions set are met.”
Sources told Sky News that recruitment officers were told to prioritise women and ethnic minorities on training courses in the year leading up to March 31, 2021. Dozens were brought into the pipeline and given a salary earlier than white males. This was “to artificially inflate the numbers” for that year, the source claimed, describing it as “positive discrimination”.
A document leaked to Sky News states: “The Recruitment Force continues to prioritise BAME candidates from the VA for CRM, whilst Rec Ops [recruitment operations] prioritises its loading onto BRTC [basic training course]”.
A separate document stated: “The pipeline remains depleted of women Cs (candidates) following the advance loading of these Cs in Q4 of TY 20/21 [January-March 2021].”
In March last year, the RAF said it had met the target to increase the flow of female recruits to 20 per cent and ethnic minorities to 10 per cent by 2020.
However, overall official statistics have not been released, with the reason given that these include “recycled inflow” such as rejoiners and commissioning from the ranks.
The MoD said its internal data, looking at new entrants to the air force, showed 9.9 per cent ethnic minority recruitment and 19.3 per cent women.
The RAF said the selection interviews were reinstated and that the pause – between December 2020 and March last year – was to speed up the overall recruitment process during Covid. An RAF spokesman said: “We will always seek to recruit the best talent. There is no pause in recruitment and no new policy with regards to meeting in-year recruitment requirements.”