HC Deb 11 December 2001 vol 376 cc744-5W
Mr. Jim Cunningham

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers from ethnic minorities there are in each of the Guards regiments; how many soldiers from ethnic minorities there are in the British Army not including the Gurkhas; and if he will make a statement. [20983]

Mr. Ingram

The number of soldiers from ethnic minorities, not including Gurkhas, in each of the Guard regiments and in the British Army as a whole is set out in the tables:

Strength of Army soldiers in Guards regiments by ethnicity as at 1 November 2001
White1 Non-white1 Unspecified Total
Grenadier Guards 713 22 5 740
Coldstream Guards 816 7 5 828
Scots Guards 719 10 7 736
Irish Guards 614 22 10 646
Welsh Guards 660 9 3 672

Strength of all Army soldiers by ethnicity as at 1 November 2001
Number
White1 88,974
Non-white1 2,309
Unspecified 4,546
Total 95,829
1Provisional

Notes:

1. The ethnic origin marker is currently being re-surveyed to align with the codes used in the 2001 Census. During this process all current intake is being recorded as being of unspecified origin. Strength figures are therefore shown as provisional.

2. The figures provided are based on UK Trained Army Personnel (UKTAP) only; this does not include Full Time Reserve Service, Royal Irish Home Service or Gurkhas.

3. Figures provided include Commonwealth personnel.

The Army remains firmly committed to its long-term aim of achieving levels of ethnic minority representation which more closely reflect the population it serves. This was recognised earlier this year in a report following the Business in the Community's Race for Opportunity campaign, which rated the Army as Britain's top public sector organisation for race equality.

Forward to