HC Deb 17 December 1986 vol 107 cc544-5W
Ms. Richardson

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list those initiatives of his Department which have been of benefit to women, since 1979, the cost or estimated cost of these initiatives, and the proportion of the total budget of his Department this represents.

Mr. Butcher

I am concerned about the under-representation of women in certain areas of industry, including management, information technology and engineering. My Department has therefore taken a number of initiatives including:

  1. (a) Women into Science and Engineering Year 1984. My Department provided £27,000 to help fund an Equal Opportunities Commission-run double decker bus which toured the country providing teachers, parents and schoolgirls with an opportunity to gain knowledge of current technology and what is involved in an engineering career. It also contributed £8,000 to producing and distributing WISE literature;
  2. (b) Women's Training Roadshows. The Women's National Commission has, with the help of £31,000 from my Department, run roadshows around the country to encourge women of all ages into a wider range of jobs;
  3. (c) Challenge of Management. With the help of £5,000 from my Department, the Industrial Society has run courses to give sixth form schoolgirls an insight into industrial management;
  4. (d) Executive Shadows Pilot Project. My Department has contributed £5,000 to a project encouraging able girls to consider a career in industry. Sixth form students "shadow" business executives, mainly on a one-to-one basis, at work for a week in 1986;
  5. (e) Information Technology. My Department has sponsored, to the tune of £31,000, projects in Croydon, Sheffield and Cambridge to develop a strategy and materials for teaching girls and women about (and through) information technology;
  6. (f) National Electronic Council Project. The Council has received a grant for £143,000 from my Department to promote a range of activities including, principally, a series of conferences aimed at teachers, with a view to influencing the subject choices of girls aged 13 and 14 and encouraging them to consider a career in electronics;
  7. (g) Engineering and Technology programme. My Department has contributed to the programme which includes courses aimed at helping women gain qualifications making them better fitted for careers in areas of industry traditionally dominated my men;
  8. (h) The Department's industry-education unit makes available to schools a series of videos on women and 545 engineering, information technology and related issues;
  9. (i) As one of the sponsors of Industry Year, the Department has participated in the women's working group, which was formed to ensure that women take a full and active part in the initiative;
  10. (j) The Department contributed £9,000 to the Sheffield local education authority information technology project to produce computer software to appeal equally to boys and girls;
  11. (k) The Cambridge Women's Resource Centre has received £22,000 towards the purchase of computer software;
  12. (l) My right hon. Friend has encouraged the invitation of more women to undertake public appointments for which he is responsible. Just over 23 per cent. of these appointments are now held by women.

The aggregate cost of all the Department's initiatives concerning women cannot be estimated precisely, since some costs are not individually recorded, but it is unlikely to exceed 1 per cent. of the Department's total budget. The Department follows a policy of equal opportunity for its own staff.

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