§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the regions what proposals he has to increase the number of employees from ethnic minorities within his Department.[306]
§ Mr. PrescottMy Departments' current measures to enhance and encourage the employment and advancement of ethnic minorities are as follows.
Action plans for people of ethnic minority origin were first published in 1991 and are under constant review along with other equal opportunities action plans for women and disabled staff within which they are consolidated. Examples of how the action plans for ethnic minorities are put into practice include: the provision of a range of equal opportunities training for managers and staff; positive action training for developing the potential of ethnic minority staff only; training for members of interview panels; publicising staff vacancies in specialist recruitment publications which feature role models to help encourage ethnic minority group representation; a revised approach to staff appraisal procedures, backed up by mandatory training programmes, to eliminate prejudice by focusing on clarified objectives and a competency-based framework for assessing individuals' performance; participation in the Windsor Fellowship Scheme, providing vacation work experience for ethnic minority undergraduates and in the Office of Public Service's Double Disadvantage Study relating to ethnic minority women; membership of a mentoring consortium led by the East London University to contribute to the development of ethnic minority students through establishing links with role models in employment; offering networking opportunities for ethnic minority staff and positively encouraging them to apply for promotion and sit as panel members; monitoring and analysing success rates by ethnic origin of the processes of recruitment, internal postings, advancement, staff appraisal; identifying any barriers to progress and improving the processes to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace and reflect local needs; and formal annual reporting to Board level, the Trades Union Side and staff generally about equal opportunities progress. Executive Agencies have autonomy to develop comparable local strategies.
I shall want to review and consider the adequacy of these measures.
§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many civil servants at each grade within his Department were of Asian origin on 5 May. [305]
84W
§ Mr. PrescottThrough voluntary and confidential surveys, the total number of civil servants at each grade who have declared their ethnic origin as Asian are:
DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT, Regions and Agencies (excluding Health and Safety Executive) Grade and grade equivalents Grade 6 0 Grade 7 5 SEO 2 HEO 14 EO 29 AO 53 AA 24
Department of Transport, Regions and Agencies Grade and grade equivalents Number Grade 6 5 Grade 7 17 SEO 33 HEO 18 EO 48 AO 156 AA 52