Ethnic Rochdale praised

Rochdale Council is one of the better North West authorities for filling high-earning jobs with members of ethnic minority communities.

The borough came seventh in a poll of 22 North West authorities by Britain’s general union the GMB to discover the proportion of the highest paid council workers to come from ethnic backgrounds.

Liverpool topped the table with 9.9% closely followed by Oldham with 6.5%. Blackpool came bottom with only 0.7%. Rochdale scored 3.6%.

Hackney Council topped the national league with 27.7% of its highest earners coming from ethnic backgrounds.

Kamaljeet Jandu, GMB’s national equality and inclusion officer, said: “GMB believes that employers should reflect the make up of local communities and travel to work areas in their workforces.

“GMB commend those local councils which have achieved this at the highest pay level in their organisations as a commitment to equality and real progress.

“There are lessons here for employers in the public and private sectors who have not acknowledged this and made progress.”