HC Deb 02 July 2002 vol 388 cc81-2
32. Mr. Ben Chapman (Wirral, South)

If he will make a statement on ethnic minority recruitment to the civil service. [63747]

The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Mr. Douglas Alexander)

Government Departments have delegated responsibility for most recruitment. However, the Government are strongly committed to equality of opportunity and to creating an open and modern civil service that fully reflects the society it serves. Government Departments have set themselves challenging diversity targets for their people at all levels of the service, nationally and regionally. Each year heads of Department account personally to Ministers on their progress and on their future plans.

Mr. Chapman

Given that the Government have set a doubling target of 3.2 per cent. for the representation of ethnic minorities in the senior civil service by 2005, and accepting for the moment that that is sufficiently ambitious, how near are we to achieving that target? What measures are we taking to recruit people mid-career from both within and without the civil service to fill that deficit?

Mr. Alexander

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that important point. The senior civil service target is indeed 3.2 per cent. The level at present is 2.4 per cent., which is up from the 1.6 per cent. achieved previously in April. However, further work needs to be undertaken to attract people mid-career and we are looking at schemes to facilitate an exchange between the public and private sectors to achieve exactly that purpose.

Mr. Henry Bellingham (North-West Norfolk)

Does the Minister agree that there is a huge pool of talent within the ethnic minorities in this country, so talk of quotas, targets and positive discrimination is insulting? What the Government should do is reach out to those communities and explain why a career in the civil service is worth while.

Mr. Alexander

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point and I can tell him exactly what we are doing. In conjunction with the Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Sector Organisations, the civil service has piloted seminars to do what he describes in Bristol, Leeds, Birmingham and Reading to raise awareness among regional ethnic minority community leaders of the career opportunities available in a modern civil service.

Mr. Andrew Dismore (Hendon)

Have the Government any plans to review the citizenship requirements for the civil service? Under present rules, one in six Londoners who are not United Kingdom or Commonwealth citizens are precluded from applying for the job of even the most lowly benefit clerk even if they speak perfect English and have lived here most of their lives. If we are serious about serving the communities we represent, should not we look at reviewing and reforming those requirements so that those Londoners are entitled to serve the people of London?

Mr. Alexander

I can assure my hon. Friend that we are sincere in wanting to create both a more open and a more modern civil service. On that basis, I will be happy to write to him on the particular point that he raises in relation to London.