Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to deal with reported discrimination in the job market experienced by black and minority ethnic personnel leaving the Armed Forces.

The latest Department for Work and Pensions 'Labour market status by ethnic group' report, based on annual data to 2015, shows that the ethnic minority employment rate in 2015 was 62.8 per cent. The Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) employment rates of Service leavers who have used the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) is 68 per cent, 5.2 percentage points higher than the general UK BAME population. This demonstrates that serving in the Armed Forces enhances the employment prospects of BAME Service leavers when they choose to enter the employment market at the end of their military career.

The CTP is the official Ministry of Defence (MOD) provider of resettlement services to members of the Armed Forces. The latest CTP Annual Statistics for Financial Year 2014-15 show that six months after leaving the Armed Forces BAME Service leavers who used CTP services had a lower estimated employment rate than white Service leavers (87 per cent). They also had a higher estimated unemployment rate and economically inactive rate. These differences were statistically significant and replicated differences seen in the general UK population. 89 per cent of CTP users were white, which was comparable to the UK population, where 86 per cent of the population was white.

All Service leavers bring significant transferable skills to the job market along with a proven ability to learn new skills and concepts quickly.

The CTP contract provides employers with unique access to the Service leaver talent pool. Employers can upload job opportunities to RightJob via the CTP website, which receives over 50,000 unique hits per month, and promotes employment opportunities through regular e-bulletins sent to over 20,000 active clients. Through the resettlement contract, the CTP can link employers with the best Service leaver candidates for their vacancies. The CTP offers a high quality, no-cost recruitment service for organisations looking to recruit highly motivated, skilled and experienced Service leavers.

The MOD and the CTP strive to further improve the employment prospects of BAME Service leavers and to work with other Government Departments to help overcome potential societal barriers which may be experienced by some. The MOD is not aware of any specific civilian employment discrimination related to the military service of BAME Service leavers.