HC Deb 27 November 1998 vol 321 cc23-4W
Mr. Cotter

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when the Race Employment and Education Forum was established; and how many times it has met. [61171]

Ms Hodge

The Race Employment and Education Forum replaces the Race Relations Employment Advisory Group and was established on 23 September 1998. It has met once, on 20 October 1998.

Mr. Cotter

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what budget has been allocated to the Race Employment and Education Forum for(a) 1997–98 and (b) 1998–99. [61172]

Ms Hodge

There is no separate budget for the Race Employment and Education Forum; its costs are met from the Department's overall budget.

Mr. Cotter

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment who the members of the Race Employment and Education Forum are; and what were the criteria for their appointment. [61170]

Ms Hodge

There are twenty two members of the Race Employment and Education Forum. They areMr. Nadeem Ahmad, Principal Policy Officer (Racial Equality), Newcastle upon Tyne City Council; Mr. Stephen Alambritis, Head of Parliamentary Affairs, Federation of Small Businesses; Mr. Sher Azam MBE, Bradford businessman; Mr. Wally Brown, Principal, Liverpool Community College; Ms Andrea Callender, Campaign Director, Race for Opportunity; Mr. John Cridland Director of Human Resources Policy, Confederation of British Industry; Ms Sandy Finnigan Chief Executive, Careers Bradford Ltd; Mr Len Jackson, Managing Director, Pork Farm Bowyers; Miss Mei Sim Lai, Partner, Pridie Brewster Chartered Accountants; Ms Kaliani Lyle, Chief Executive, Citizens Advice Scotland; Ms Thalia Marriott, Deputy Principal, South Thames College; Ms Gloria Mills, Director of Equal Opportunities, UNISON; Professor Tariq Modood Professor of Sociology, Politics and Public Policy, University of Bristol; Sir Herman Ouseley Chairman, Commission for Racial Equality; Mr. Ambar Paul, Chief Executive, Caparo Group Ltd.; Mr. Clyde Pile, Managing Director, Glass Processing Midlands; Mr. Mohammed Shafiq, Equal Opportunities Manager, Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce, Training and Enterprise; Mr. Sanjeev Sharma, Head of Human Resources, NatWest Life Assurance Ltd.; Ms Cherry Short, Chair Cardiff and Vale Race Equality Council and CRE Commissioner; Ms Sukhvinder Stubbs, Chief Executive, Runnymede Trust; Ms Christine Taylor-Ozgen, Head of Training and Employment, Refugee Council; Professor Gajendra Verma, Professor of Education, University of Manchester.

The criteria for membership were that both professional and lay members should have practical experience and knowledge of the issues affecting ethnic minorities in the labour market, education or training, and should be geographically representative of the country at large.