§ 22. Mr. Wigleyasked the hon. Member for Berwick upon Tweed, as representing the House of Commons Commission, how many of the supervisory posts in the Refreshment Department are currently held by women and how many by men; and, of those appointed to such posts since 1979, how many were women and how many men.
§ Mr. A. J. Beith (On behalf of the House of Commons Commission)Of the 47 supervisory posts in the Refreshment Department, 10 are currently held by women and 37 by men. No figures are available for 1979, which was before the Refreshment Department became a Department of the House. Since 1980, 22 men and nine women have been appointed to supervisory posts.
§ Mr. WigleyWithin the figures that the hon. Gentleman has just given, how many positions as head waiter within the restaurants of the House are held by women? If, as I suspect, the answer is very few indeed, does that not show discrimination against women? Is he satisfied with that position?
§ Mr. BeithI cannot give the hon. Gentleman the precise figure without notice. However, the larger part of the imbalance between women and men is accounted for not by head waiters but by the staff of chefs, where traditionally the largest number of people applying for those supervisory posts are men, and there are few women applicants. However, I shall look at the points made by the hon. Gentleman.