HC Deb 21 July 1999 vol 335 cc523-4W
Mr. Singh

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many appointments to quangos she made between(a) 1 June 1997 and 31 May 1998 and (b) 1 June 1998 and 31 May 1999; and in each case of those how many were members of Britain's (i) Asian and (ii) ethnic minority communities. [92140]

Mr. Foulkes

Between 1 June 1997 and 31 May 1998 my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State made 41 appointments to quangos. Six of the appointees were members of Britain's ethnic minority communities, of whom five were from the Asian community.

The number of appointments made for the period 1 June 1998 to 31 May 1999 was 15, of which none were from the ethnic minority communities.

We are committed to achieving by the end of 2002 a target of 10 per cent. of the public appointments for which we are responsible to be held by members of the ethnic minority communities.