§ Mr. SinghTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many appointments to quangos he 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. [92137]
§ Mr. SpellarThe following number of appointments were made to Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) for which my Department is responsible:
- (a) 1 June 1997 to 31 May 1998: 34; (i) nil; (ii) nil.
- (b) 1 June 1998 to 31 May 1999: 30; (i) nil; (ii) nil.
These figures include new appointments as well as reappointments.
Appointments to the Armed Forces Pay Review Body are not included as they are made by the Prime Minister. Appointments to the technical Boards under the Defence Scientific Advisory Council are not included (they have previously been included in answers to similar questions). The Cabinet Office has recently agreed that as these Boards are sub-Committees of the Council they should not be classified as advisory NDPBs. Appointments to the Council itself are included.
Within the overriding principle of selection based on merit, MOD is committed to increasing diversity in appointments to its NDPBs and raising the representation of women, people from ethnic minority groups and disabled people in line with government-wide objectives. To this end MOD publishes an annual Plan for Public Appointments and Equal Opportunities (the plan for 1999–2002 was published in "Quangos: Opening up Public Appointments") which sets objectives and targets.