Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps she has taken to encourage black and minority ethnic women into work in (a) Newport West constituency, (b) Wales and (c) the United Kingdom.

We want everyone to be able to find a job, progress in work and thrive in the labour market, whoever they are and wherever they live.

The latest Office for National Statistics update for the first quarter of 2022 shows that there are 2 million more women in work compared to in 2010 and a record high 2.0 million ethnic minority women in work, a significant increase of 180,000 since the same quarter in 2021. The ethnic minority employment rate for women was 61.7%, a 1.1% increase since the same quarter in 2021.

Our Plan for Jobs is providing broad ranging support for all Jobseekers with our Sector Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs), Job Entry Targeted Support (JETS) and Restart scheme. In Southeast Wales, our Jobcentres are working with Adult Learning Wales to deliver ‘Prepare for the Civil Service’ recruitment support sessions, supporting customers from groups with lower social mobility, including ethnic minority jobseekers, to apply for positions with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. We are extending this initiative to support more diverse recruitment in all other government departments in Wales.