§ Mr. AllanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of the(a) paid and (b) unpaid appointments which he has made to non-departmental public bodies since 1 May 1997 were women. [129846]
§ Mr. Straw[holding answer 12 July 2000]: The information showing paid and unpaid appointments made to non-departmental public bodies from 1 May 1997 and the percentage of women appointed is shown in the table.
This Government are committed to increasing the representation of women in public life. In support of this, the Department has drawn up an action plan for increasing the number of women and ethnic minorities holding public appointments. The latest plans, together with the Government's overall plan, were published on 24 May 2000 in "Quangos: Opening up Public Appointments 2000–03", copies of which are in the Library.
19971 1998 1999 2000 Total Appointments 239 524 497 238 Paid Total 66 161 102 44 Male 54 124 71 38 Female 12 37 31 6 Percentage Female 18 23 30 14 Unpaid Total 173 363 395 194 Male 98 210 205 98 Female 75 153 190 96 Percentage Female 43 42 48 49 1From 1 May 1997