§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what child care provision his Department provides for pre-school age children of employees; what child care provision for school holidays or after-school care is provided for employees' children aged five years or over; what plans there are for increasing provision in the next five years; and how these are to be funded.
§ Mr. Cope[holding answer 5 March 1990]: The Northern Ireland Civil Service is considering with the trade unions whether child care facilities for under five-year-olds can be provided for its staff. Two holiday playschemes, which were funded by parental fees and grants from the Northern Ireland Civil Service, were established on a pilot basis during the 1989 summer holidays and one scheme in the 1989 Christmas holiday. These schemes are now being evaluated to gauge their success and to consider if further playschemes should be developed.
The small home Civil Service part of the Northern Ireland Office which comprises about 200 staff divided between London and Belfast, does not provide child care facilities of its own. Staff can, however, link into schemes already set up by larger Departments, both in London and Belfast and we hope to continue to be able to take advantage of any new schemes.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures he has implemented to ensure that recruitment and promotion policy in his Department does not directly or indirectly discriminate against applicants who were mature students or women returning to work following a career break due to child care.
§ Mr. Cope[holding answer 5 March 1990]: It is the policy of the Northern Ireland Civil Service and home Civil Service that all eligible persons shall have equal opportunity for employment and promotion on the basis of their ability, qualifications and aptitude for the work.
The detailed policy statement on equality of opportunity issued by the Northern Ireland Civil Service makes it clear that any advertisements, whether internal or external, must not indicate or appear to indicate any intention to discriminate in selection for recruitment and promotion. It also states that opportunities to obtain information on careers in the Civil Service must be readily available to all existing and potential applicants and that the eligibility criteria for recruitment should be formulated to ensure that they are related to job performance and are non-discriminatory.
There is no age limit for recruits except in the case of administrative trainees (age limit 36) and direct entrant executive officers II (age limit 50). These limits are necessary in order that recruits can realise the career expectation associated with recruitment to the grades in question.
There are no age limits which preclude officers from considerations for promotion. In pursuance of its equal opportunity policy, an equal opportunities unit has been established within the Department of Finance and Personnel. The unit has introduced a detailed monitoring system which includes recruitment and promotion. Details of its work are contained within three published reports; copies of which are available in the Library.
514WEqual opportunity policy in the small home Civil Service element of the Northern Ireland Office is kept under regular review. An equal opportunities guide for staff which emphasises its commitment, is near completion. Internal promotion procedures for this group are also currently under review.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proportion of civil servants in his Department are women at each of the grades(a) seven, (b) six, (c) five, (d) four, (e) three, (f) two and (g) one.
§ Mr. Cope[holding answer 5 March 1990]: The proportion of staff who are female in each of the following grades in the Northern Ireland Civil Service is:
Grade Per cent. Female 7 6.0 6 7.9 5 5.5 4 — 3 2.9 2 — 1 — With regard to the home Civil Service part of the Northern Ireland Office, female staff account for 4 to 5 per cent. of the total at grade 7 level; there are currently no female staff at grades 1 to 6.