Broadcasters need to raise employee diversity

● Women, ethnic minorities and disabled are all under-represented

Broadcasters must improve the diversity of their employees, Ofcom has warned, as a major study finds that women, ethnic-minority groups and disabled people are all under-represented in the television industry.

The watchdog said that broadcasters should regularly measure and monitor the make-up of their workforce and set clear diversity targets – as well as ensuring that diversity policies are “embedded from the top down”.

It warned that it would tackle broadcasters which did not appear to promote equal employment opportunities and said it would take enforcement action against any who failed to provide required data to Ofcom on a regular basis.

A total of 57 broadcasting firms are already being pursued by the regulator for failing

0 BBC already under fire over pay disparity between men and women, including Claudia Winkleman to provide data in time for this report.

Sharon White, Ofcom’s chief executive, said: “Television is central to the UK’S cultural landscape and creative economy, and we believe that crea- tivity in broadcasting thrives on diversity of thinking.

“Today’s report paints a worrying picture, with many broadcasters failing properly to monitor the makeup of their employees. We’re announcing a range of measures to help close the gap between the people making programmes, and the many millions who watch them.”

Ofcom added that it had written to the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to request an extension to the list of protected characteristics in sections 27 and 337 of the Communication Act 2003,whichwouldallowthem to require broadcasters to provide data on a broader range of characteristics, rather than sections being voluntary.

The study looked at Britain’s five major broadcasters – BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky and Viacom, the owner of Channel 5 – and found that women accounted for 48 per cent of the total workforce, against 51 per cent of the population as a whole and held just 39 per cent of senior roles. Channel 4 has the highest number of female employees at 59 per cent, followed by ITV. Older men are generally more likely to be employed than older women.

Those from a black, African or ethnic minority background made up 12 per cent of workers, and disabled people just 3 per cent, despite accounting for 14 per cent and 18 per cent of the general population respectively. At the BBC, just 6 per cent of senior roles are made up of people from an ethnic minority background.

Ms White added: “It is disappointing.”

The report comes after the BBC came under fire for just a third of its highest-paid stars being women.