HC Deb 04 March 1991 vol 187 cc34-5W
Mr. Janner

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when his Department last conducted a survey of the ethnic origins of its employees; when it next plans to so so; and whether he will make a statement.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

A full survey of the ethnic origins of Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff was conducted in 1986–87. It is kept up to date with information on new staff and leavers. Non-respondents in the diplomatic wing are to be re-surveyed in the next few weeks. The aid wing conducts periodic resurveys of non-respondents. The FCO attaches importance to its departmental programme for action on race as a means of ensuring that it recruits, develops and retains the best qualified people regardless of ethnic origin.

Mr. Janner

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he has taken to recruit members of ethnic minorities in top grades of employment at the Foreign Office.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

Recruitment to the most senior entry grade is conducted for us by the Civil Service Commission, which has taken various steps to improve ethnic minority recruitment. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has produced its own recruitment materials which reflect a multi-racial work force, and often places features and advertises vacancies in ethnic minority media.

Mr. Janner

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many and what percentage of officers in each grade (1–7) and overall in his Department are(a) women and (b) from ethnic minorities, respectively.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

The information available is as follows:

Diplomatic wing

  1. (a) The figures at 28 February 1991 for the diplomatic wing, including both home civil service grades 1 to 7 and the diplomatic service equivalents, are as follows:
Total women in grade Women as percentage of total in grade
HCS1 0 0
HCS2 0 0
HCS3 6 5.36
1HCS4 0 0
HCS5 7 2.37
1HCS6 0 0
HCS7 43 8.66
1 no equivalent DS grade.

Overall there are 3,312 women in the diplomatic wing, equivalent to 46.8 per cent. of staff.

  1. (b) According to the diplomatic wing's ethnic survey 96 staff, or 1.4 per cent. of the payroll, have declared themselves to be of ethnic minority origin. The survey is, of course, voluntary.

I regret that I am unable to provide a breakdown of the figures by grade.

Aid wing

  1. (a) In January 1990 there were 35 women at HCS grades 1 to 7, representing 10.9 per cent of the total at those grades. A more detailed breakdown is not available. Overall there were 662 women in the aid wing, or 43.4 per cent. of staff.
  2. (b) According to the aid wing's ethnic survey 1.5 per cent. of HCS grades 1 to 7 are of ethnic minority origin. Overall, 3.79 per cent. of the total payroll of 1,525 staff have declared themselves to be of ethnic minority origin. The survey is voluntary. A breakdown of figures by grade is not available.