Tomiwa Jimoh, a black graduate from inner-city London, is the only non-white member of his team on the civil service fast stream in Sheffield. The 23-year-old's experience highlights the ongoing challenge the civil service faces in attracting diverse candidates to its flagship graduate scheme.
According to 2014 figures, there were 2,342 fast streamers, making up just over 0.5% of the civil service. Of these, 48% were women, 12% were from an ethnic minority, and 10.9% were disabled. However, representation declines sharply at senior levels: only 7% of senior civil servants are from ethnic minorities, and 57% of permanent secretaries attended Oxford or Cambridge.
John Manzoni, chief executive of the civil service, acknowledged the problem, stating: 'Improving social mobility just makes sense. Like race, gender or age, there should be no social barriers to developing a successful career in the civil service.'
Some progress has been made: the proportion of successful fast stream applicants from ethnic minorities rose to 14.2% in 2014 from 13.6% in 2013. However, disabled applicants remain low at 8.5%, compared with 18% of the UK population. Only 4.4% of successful applicants had parents in manual labour.
To address these gaps, the fast stream recruitment team works with organisations like upReach, a social enterprise that helps students from less privileged backgrounds access internships and graduate schemes. Deborah Joseph, upReach's interim chief executive, noted that many potential candidates have never heard of the fast stream.
