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<p>On 17 March, the Government published “Inclusive Britain” in response to the independent
report by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, setting out a ground-breaking
action plan to tackle negative disparities, promote unity and build a fairer Britain
for all. The Government has responded in detail to each of the Commission’s 24 recommendations
from its report. In some cases, The Government’s response has gone further than the
report envisaged, to ensure that our action plan is as wide-reaching as possible and
builds a fairer and more inclusive society in the long-term.</p><p> </p><p>The Government
is very supportive of the Race At Work Charter, which over 100 financial services
firms have already signed up to. The Charter commits firms that sign up to take practical
steps to tackle barriers that ethnic minority people face in recruitment and progression.</p><p>
</p><p>We are also supporting entrepreneurs through the Start-Up Loans scheme, which
offers businesses 12 months of free mentoring. Of all loans issued up to December
2021, 20% went to Asian people, Black people, or people from other Ethnic Minorities
(excluding White minorities). At the end of December 2021, the programme had delivered
more than 90,000 loans, providing more than £819m of funding to entrepreneurs.</p><p>In
March 2021, the Parker Review published statistics showing that significant progress
has been made on improving ethnic diversity of UK boards, with 89 out of 100 FTSE
100 companies reporting they had appointed a director from a minority ethnic group.</p><p>
</p><p>The Treasury remains committed to supporting individuals and businesses of
all backgrounds to access the finance they need and continues to engage with the private
sector and other government departments including BEIS and Cabinet Office on this
important issue.</p>
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