COUNCIL bosses are appealing to people from ethnic minorities to apply for jobs in a bid to address a cultural imbalance.

The town hall's workforce does not represent the make-up of the community it is serving and councillors say this is not good enough.

But it is not just officer posts which are under-represented. Two councillors in town centre wards are also stepping down in May to make way for new Asian and younger candidates in a bid to get a more representative section of the society involved in local authority affairs.

An employment workshop has just been held by Ethnic Minorities Business Service, EMBS, one of a number of initiatives striving for change.

It is designed to help members of ethnic minority groups better understand the council's recruitment process and improve interview skills.

Those who took part hailed the event a success and said it showed them how to use their life experiences and skills when applying for a job.

Cllr Rosa Kay, Executive Member for Human Resources, officially opened the event.

"We are taking positive and proactive steps to improve the diversity of our workforce," she said.

"We want to ensure that our services are accessible to all our residents and initiatives like these are invaluable in achieving our aims."

Sikander Badat, Head of EMBS, said there are more workshops planned for the future after securing resources through Europe and regeneration funds.

If you are interested in attending a similar workshop please contact Aysha Qasim/Jennifer Begum at the Bolton Enterprise Centre, Washington Street on 336150.