§ 56. Mr Jannerasked the Minister for the Civil Service whether he has now completed the evaluation of the surveys of the ethnic origins of non-industrial civil servants in the north-west and county of Avon; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HayhoeNo; but, as I said on 29 October, a decision on future surveys will be taken as soon as possible.
§ Mr. JannerDoes the Minister accept that "as soon as possible" may mean a very long time indeed? The code of the Commission for Racial Equality has been in force since 1 April, and the Government should be giving a lead rather than hanging behind. This matter should not be allowed to hang fire any longer.
§ Mr. HayhoeOn this, as on earlier questions, the hon. and learned Gentleman has got it wrong. The code has been circulated to all Departments and their attention has been drawn to the fact that it is now in operation. The Government have made themselves an equal opportunities employer, and they make that clear in all staff advertisements. I should have thought that the hon. and learned Gentleman would have wanted to wait for the survey of applicants in the north-west and Avon to be published—at the end of the year—before arriving at premature judgments about the present state of affairs within the Civil Service. We are still waiting for clarification of the union position, which I regard as of some importance. On reflection, the hon. and learned Gentleman may think that it is right that we should do so.
§ Mr. ForthWill my hon. Friend reaffirm that the overriding principle in recruitment and promotion is merit? If so, is he not now beginning to wonder about the efficacy of these surveys and what they are all about?
§ Mr. HayhoeI give my hon. Friend the absolute assurance that I gave him at our last Civil Service Question Time. I hope that his memory is not defective, but I repeat that the long-standing traditions and practice of the Civil 615 Service—that recruitment and promotion should be on the merits of the individual — should and will be maintained.