§ Mr. LivingstoneTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many, by category, of the commissioned, warrant and non-commissioned officers, and other ranks marching on Horseguards parade during Trooping of the Colour were from the(a) African, (b) Afro-Caribbean and (c) Indian or other non-white communities; what proportion in each case they represented of the total number of troops taking part; what steps are being taken to ensure that the recruitment of officers and other ranks to these regiments becomes representative of the ethnic structure of the population generally; and what targets there are to set the regiments concerned towards achieving this.
§ Mr. HanleyNo records are currently held of the ethnic origins of any Army personnel. We are, however, planning to introduce in-service ethnic monitoring which will provide a breakdown of the ethnic origins of serving personnel of all ranks. A number of measures are in place to encourage the recruitment of ethnic minorities into the Army. Targets for recruitment from ethnic minority communities are set for the Army as a whole, not for individual regiments and corps, and for 1993–94 the target is set at 1.5 per cent., as it is for the other two services.
313W