Chris Shokoya, managing director of Shokoya-Eleshin Construction in Liverpool, said project contracts should include a clause stipulating that a specific percentage of ethnic minority staff should be employed.
The taskforce, called Change the Face of Construction, is a central plank of construction minister Nick Raynsford鈥檚 Respect For People initiative. It is chaired by John Hobson, head of the DETR's Construction Directorate, and has received 拢50 000 of government funding.
Shokoya said: 鈥淚 think the initiative is well intentioned. The taskforce is searching for a solution. But you need to package it in a way that guides contractors. You have to say: 鈥楬ere is a 拢9m contract and here is what you have to do to get it.鈥欌��
Shokoya鈥檚 company has a turnover of 拢1.4m and employs 40 people from the inner-city Toxteth area.
Geoffrey Irvine, managing director of 700-strong brickwork specialist Irvine Whitlock, said he was against quotas, even though a large percentage of its staff at all levels are from ethnic minorities.
Irvine said: 鈥淭he only policy we have is that we do not have a policy. It is simply: 鈥楥an you do the work?鈥� I think you have to be careful with quotas. They are difficult to enforce and you always run the danger of diluting quality.鈥�
You have to say: 鈥楬ere is a 拢9m contract and here is what you have to do to get it鈥�
Chris Shokoya
His views were echoed by Stanhope director Peter Rogers. He said: 鈥淲e already run checks on our projects to monitor local employment and ethnic employment. I would be nervous about quotas because people will fiddle the figures. Saying employers should employ x amount of people really isn鈥檛 practical.鈥�
The taskforce intends to establish a mentoring programme for ethnic minorities with a number of contractors and consultants in the next six months.
Construction Industry Board chief executive Don Ward, a member of the taskforce, said: 鈥淲e are looking to have 50 construction companies on board. Certainly, we would want a Laing and a Bovis on board by that time.鈥�
A spokesperson for Bovis said it supported the aims of the taskforce. He said: 鈥淎t the moment, we have a strong graduate intake of women in project management positions. But the industry appears to lack role models for these groups. We do have a modest proportion of ethnic minority staff working at project level and in support roles.鈥�
The taskforce hit the headlines last year when it cancelled a seminar on minorities in construction because of a lack of funding from industry.
