§ Ms. Richardsonasked the Attorney-General what is (a) the proportion of working time allocated to the Lord Chancellor's departmental equal opportunities officer for equal opportunities duties, (b) the other duties carried out by the departmental equal opportunities officer, (c) the proportion and amount of the departmental budget allocated to equal opportunities work, (d) the number of occasions when the departmental equal opportunities officer meets equal opportunities officers from other Government Departments each year, and (e) the guidelines issued to departmental training officers and departmental equal opportunities officers to promote the use of section 47 of the Sex Discrimination Act; and what action has been taken to facilitate job share, part-time working and parental leave.
§ The Attorney-General(a) The Lord Chancellor's departmental equal opportunities officer spends about 50 per cent. of his time on these duties. Two and a half other members of staff are also fully engaged on them;
(b) He also deals with employment and industrial relations matters;
368W(c) No specific budget is allocated for equal opportunities work; The cost is subsumed in other departmental budgets and could be quantified only at disproportionate cost;
(d) The equal opportunities officer meets other equal opportunities officers, formally and informally, several times a year;
(e) Central guidance on equal opportunities matters has been issued to departmental training officers and departmental equal opportunities officers. The Department has run courses for women middle managers and nominates women for similar courses. A domestic absence scheme has recently been established; similar agreements in relation to job sharing and part-time working are currently being discussed with the departmental trade union side.