RAF recruitment drive boss 'resigned over 160 cases of positive discrimination'
The head of the Royal Air Force has said he regrets the resignation of a group captain over a recruitment drive which MPs heard saw around 160 cases of positive discrimination against white men.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston said the drive had been made with "the best of intent", but added that the RAF would learn from the episode once a statutory inquiry into the matter has concluded.
In September, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) admitted that "some mistakes were made" following reports of a recruitment drive that favoured women and ethnic minorities.
Tobias Ellwood told a Defence Select Committee hearing on Wednesday that Group Captain Lizzy Nicholl had quit her role as head of the drive after determining that "about 160 cases of positive discrimination had taken place".
Chairing the session at Parliament, Mr Ellwood said: "In summary, this was about a precedence of selection given to ethnic minority and female pilots over better-qualified white pilots in order to improve the RAF's diversity profile, even though it could materially impact on the RAF's operational performance.
"This all began back in November 2020 and ran until March 2021.
"Group captain Lizzy Nicholl was then placed in charge of recruitment and selection at that time, and it's her who refused to continue this formal programme. She determined, I understand, about 160 cases of positive discrimination had taken place.
"And she ended up having to resign, not wishing to go through with this policy."
Mr Ellwood put it to Sir Mike – who is Chief of the Air Staff – that a "formal directive" on the recruitment drive had come "from the top" and asked: "Did the wrong person resign?"
Sir Mike said: "I very much regret and I'm very sorry that the group captain you mentioned felt that she had no alternative but to resign."
He added: "There is a non-statutory inquiry ongoing into this. We've asked for it to be convened and run by the Army. And it hasn't made its findings to me yet. I look forward to them.
"I want the Royal Air Force to learn from this and we will, and it's my understanding that the Secretary of State has undertaken to share the findings with this committee as well."
The RAF chief insisted there had been no impact on standards.
He said: "I can absolutely assure this committee that there was no compromise of entry standards, there was no impact on the standard of recruits from any background, there was no impact on the front line or on operational effectiveness."
After the hearing, the Chief of the Air Staff, in a statement said: "At no point did the RAF recruitment process select ethnic minority and female pilots over better qualified white pilots.
"Over 80% of our recruits during the period in question were white men.
"The error, which we have corrected and apologise for, was fast-tracking approximately 150 women and ethnic minority recruits, who had already passed all selection standards, onto earlier initial training courses."
Join Our Newsletter
