§ Mr. Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) whether he has issued any instructions, recommendations or guidance to any nongovernmental organisation which comes under the aegis, sponsorship or control of his Department, and which has employees, concerning the implementation of the code of practice of the Commission for Racial Equality which came into force on 1 April;
(2) which of the quasi non-governmental organisations which have employees and for which his Department is responsible are complying, and which are not, with the recommendations of the code of the Commission for Racial Equality, and in particular with the recommendation for ethnic monitoring.
§ Mr. WhitneyImplementation of the code is the responsibility of the bodies concerned as employers. But490W as sponsoring Minister I would expect them to be aware of its provisions and to take appropriate account of them in their employment policies and procedures.
I understand that both the Commonwealth Institute and the external services of the BBC have already decided to comply fully with all the recommendations of the code, including the recommendation for ethnic monitoring on an annual basis. The management of the British Council has taken note of the code and is discussing the issues raised with its trade union side. The Crown Agents have a well developed race relations policy and are considering the introduction of ethnic monitoring. The Commonwealth Development Corporation has reviewed its personnel policies in the light of the code and found them consistent with the code's general intentions.