A fire service in the UK is being accused of racial and gender discrimination after it emerged that in application tests white men must score at least 70% to pass while women and non-white men must only score 60%.
The racially discriminatory requirements were introduced by the West Midlands Fire Service where white men applying for the service must score 70% to pass the verbal and numerical reasoning test and progress to the next round.
Women and black, Asian and other ethnic minority background men are only expected to score 60% on the test in order to progress to the next round of the recruitment process.
A whistle-blower in in the organisation told the UK Daily Mail that bosses are spending £2,500 a month on Facebook adverts targeted solely at potential women recruits.
The source went on to say the new recruitment programme not only blatantly discriminates against white men but costs £100,000 per year.
The West Midlands Fire Service is one of the largest in the UK and a leaked memo shows its main focus is too increase the representation of women and ethnic minorities in the organisation not the quality of recruits.
A spokesman for West Midlands Fire Service said “‘West Midlands Fire Service is committed to having a workforce which reflects the diversity of the population of all our communities, and one that is welcoming to all.”
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