To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will place in the Library a copy of a sample fictitious job application made to a business by the Ethnic Employment Taskforce. (284294)

The Racial Discrimination in Recruitment report will be placed in the Library when it is published this autumn. It will contain examples of the CVs used.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions between what dates the Ethnic Employment Taskforce sent fictitious job applications to businesses; and at what cost to the public purse. (284295)

CVs and application forms were sent out by the research company to businesses between November 2008 and May 2009. The total cost of the research project including fieldwork, analysis of data and the production of the final report will be £168,700.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Ethnic Employment Taskforce consulted organisations representing (a) employers and (b) businesses on its proposal to submit fictitious job applications to businesses before such applications were sent. (284296)

In October 2007, the employer-led Business Commission on Race Equality recommended ‘matched CV’ testing to measure progress towards eliminating the ethnic minority employment gap. The Chancellor of the Exchequer accepted this recommendation and asked the Ethnic Minority Employment Task Force (EMETF) to oversee delivery and report back to him in writing by December 2009. A Confederation of British Industry (CBI) member sits on the EMETF. The CBI is also on the steering group for the research project.