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<p> </p><p>The Civil Service has a longstanding commitment to promoting equality of
opportunity and ensuring that the Civil Service is representative of the society it
serves. Central to this is the principle of appointment on merit which is the foundation
of Civil Service recruitment and enshrined in law.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Core
Defra does not have numerical targets for increasing our workforce diversity. However,
Defra's Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2013-15 contains a clear goal for Defra to
become a diverse and inclusive Department ‘that can attract and retain talented people
from the widest range of backgrounds and offer all our employees equality of opportunity
to progress and achieve their potential on merit.'</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Defra
is also committed to reviewing our Equality Objectives and monitoring our performance
against them and further information is provided in our Workforce Monitoring Report
here:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs/about/equality-and-diversity"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs/about/equality-and-diversity</a></p><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Defra's Diversity and Inclusion Strategy is underpinned by
an action plan, with good progress made in the first year, including:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Mandating
unconscious bias training for managers of people and those involved in recruitment
and interviewing.</li><li>Introducing senior leader Diversity Champions for specific
groups.</li><li>Participating fully in Positive Action Pathways, Diversity Schemes
and Programmes.</li><li>Ongoing participation in the award winning ‘Summer Diversity
Internship Programme', specifically aimed at underrepresented students.</li></ul><p>
</p>
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