§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what fair employment measures his Cabinet Secretary has put in place in each Government Department to encourage applications from Northern Ireland. [17236]
§ Mr. LeslieHome civil service Departments and agencies have a great deal of autonomy in their personnel policies. However, corporate civil service equal opportunities policy provides that all eligible people must have equality of opportunity for employment and advancement on the basis of their suitability for work. There must be no unfair discrimination on the basis of 703W age, disability, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, or (in Northern Ireland) community background.
There are 10 home civil service Departments and agencies in Northern Ireland covered by Northern Ireland's fair employment legislation. These Departments and agencies are taking measures to improve the balance of representation in their work force. These include: the publication of Affirmative Action Plans; increasing outreach measures in under-represented sectors of the community; setting recruitment and promotion goals and monitoring closely job applications from each community. The Cabinet Office reports on fair employment issues in HCS Departments and agencies to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.
The civil service reform programme aims to achieve a dramatic increase in diversity and tackle under-representation. The Cabinet Secretary reports to the Prime Minister annually on the range of action being taken by the Cabinet Office and Departments to ensure the civil service accelerates progress on diversity.