2018-11-20

Dobra zmiana w Zjednoczonym Królestwie?

Któregoś dnia wchodząc ambasadorskim wejściem zauważyłem w Foreign and Commonwealth Office urzędników w dziwnych jak na ten urząd strojach. „Teraz w piątki mamy się nosić nieformalnie”, zareagował na moje zdziwienie wysokiej rangi dyplomata. Było jasne, że tę zmianę należy wiązać z wyborczą wygraną Labour Party. Po kilku dniach przy wejściu powitał mnie człowiek, który musiał na spisie sprawdzić, kogo powiadomić, że ambasador RP udaje się do Permanent Under-Secretary. Zastanawiałem się, co będzie dalej? Po powrocie z placówki przestałem się tym interesować, ale mój najbliższy współpracownik ówczesny odpowiedział dzisiaj na moje przypomnienie piątkowych strojów, że już wtedy stało się jasne, "że nigdy już nie będzie tak, jak było." A przecież nie wybieraliśmy między partiami kraju akredytacji. Teraz jednak znajdujemy w "Financial Times” wiadomość, która utwierdza mnie w przypuszczeniu (na tej WWW i w rozmowach wielokrotnie przeze mnie prezentowanym), że jeśli dojdzie do Brexitu, to potem nastąpi rozpad Zjednoczonego Królestwa, jakie dzisiaj znamy.

James Blitz, Whitehall Editor, publikuje w "Financial Times", 20 listopada:

Labour vows to end civil service qualifications ‘snobbery’ [Artykuł dostępny po wpisaniu tytułu do przeglądarki.]

A Labour government will end the requirement for entrants into the civil service to have higher academic qualifications unless they are genuinely relevant to the role being sought.In a drive to tackle “snobbery” over the reliance on qualifications and to establish “genuine parity of esteem”, Angela Rayner, shadow education secretary, will say that Whitehall advertisements for civil service jobs should only demand academic qualifications where it is a genuine occupational requirement. “We will end the snobbery that underpins attitudes towards different types of qualification and end the assumption that academic qualifications should be a basic entry requirement for jobs in Whitehall, limiting them to where they are necessary,” Ms Rayner will tell the Association of Colleges annual conference on Tuesday. “Government itself will lead the way in setting a clear example to other employers that a person’s skills and experience are as valuable as any particular type of qualification.”Ms Rayner, who left school pregnant at 16 with no qualifications, will not specify which civil service posts could be filled without A-levels or a degree. But the Labour party said it believed the move would allow a greater range of applicants for posts in the civil service, including the fast stream, and ensure that the civil service reflected the diversity of British society. Many graduate-level jobs within the civil service require a degree with at least an upper second class honours grade. However, Ms Rayner will argue that many companies such as Google, Penguin Books, Apple, IBM and Virgin Media have removed degrees and other academic qualifications from job requirements where it is not an occupational requirement.Labour also argues that there remains a considerable attainment gap between the proportion of white British students attaining the necessary degree classifications compared to UK-domiciled students from ethnic minority groups.The party says that in 2015, only 7 per cent of applicants and 4 per cent of appointees to the civil service fast stream had parents who worked in routine or manual work. This compared with 70 per cent and 80 per cent respectively for those whose parents worked in senior managerial, administrative or professional occupations.Labour also said that last year not a single person of black Caribbean origin won a fast-stream place.“Under the Tories, further education funding has seen billions of pounds of cuts, and too often opportunities are not available to those who do not pursue a traditional academic qualification,” Ms Rayner will say. “We know that genuine ‘parity of esteem’ will need resources as well as rhetoric.”