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A police applicant who was rejected by Cheshire Constabulary for being a 'white, heterosexual male' has been offered a position in the force.

During a tribunal earlier this year it was heard how Matthew Furlong had been knocked back when applying for a job as a copper .

The tribunal ruled that Cheshire police had discriminated against the 25-year-old during its recruitment process on the grounds of sexual orientation, race and sex.

Now he has been offered a job with the force, and will start as a student officer this September.

In a statement Cheshire Constabulary explained how changes had been made to the recruitment process in question, with a difference in how measures were applied to the final stages.

The force implemented changes to the process under the Equality Act 2010, applying measures under section 159 - positive action in recruitment.

Rather than using a scoring mechanism, the interview process resulted this time in a pass or fail outcome.

All applicants who passed the interview process were treated with equal merit, the force says.

However in this particular process recruitment was oversubscribed, and a number of criteria were then applied to candidates.

Those who met one or more criteria were offered places first.

It was found that the force discriminated against Mr Furlong as it had unlawfully treated candidates with 'protected' characteristics more favourably.

Following the tribunal the force reviewed its recruitment process and now follows the College of Policing scoring guidelines based on the Competency & Values Framework (CVF).

It is no longer based on a pass or fail.

The force says it now applies 'positive action' when there is a two candidates of equal merit - but it is not a process applied to a volume of applicants.

'Best of intentions'

Deputy Chief Constable Julie Cooke said: "We have reflected on our interpretation of the Act and thoroughly reviewed our practices to ensure that we comply with it.

"We accept the findings of the tribunal and have looked very carefully at our entire recruitment practice.

"Action has been taken to change some of our processes and take account of the hearing’s result.

"It is important for us, and for candidates, that the recruitment process is fair and transparent and that all candidates are treated in a fair and consistent manner.

"However, I would like to stress that these processes were put in place with the best of intentions to attract candidates from diverse communities, and at no time were the standards of our recruits reduced."

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At the time of the tribunal, Jennifer Ainscough, an employment lawyer at Slater and Gordon representing Mr Furlong, said: "Matthew was denied his dream job simply because he was a white, heterosexual male.

"This is the first reported case of its kind in the UK where positive action has been used in a discriminatory way.

"Matthew's courage in speaking out will hopefully ensure it is the last."

DCC Cooke said: "We have a public-sector equality duty to take action to address underrepresentation, which continues to be a challenge in Cheshire.

"We will take positive action to achieve a workforce that truly represents our communities in accordance with the Equality Act."