HC Deb 28 April 2003 vol 404 cc242-3W
Joyce Quin

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress has been made towards the aim in the White Paper, "Your Region, Your Choice", of encouraging applicants to public bodies from all parts of England; what change there has been in the geographical diversity of appointees to NDPBs and public bodies sponsored by ODPM since the publication of the White Paper; and what the outcome was of the regional seminars held by the Cabinet Office for women interested in serving on a public body. [108563]

Mr. Raynsford

All vacancies on NDPBs sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are advertisedon our own website on the Cabinet Office Public Appointments new vacancies website on the "Just Do Something" website on the "Research Research" website and the publication Research Fortnight

Vacancies on some of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's larger bodies will normally be advertised in a variety of newspapers and other publications, including those specifically targeted at under-represented groups in public bodies such as The Voice, The Asian Times and Disability Now.

It would be premature to try to establish a meaningful trend in the nature of appointments since May 2002, but the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is committed to a policy of encouraging diversity in the race, gender and location of appointees.

Before the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was set up, as part of DTLR, officials attended all of the regional seminars organised by the then Cabinet Office's Women and Equality Unit during that period.

The breakdown of new appointments to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's NDPBs by region between 14 May 2002 and 31 March 2003 is as follows:

Region New appointees
London 9
South East 3
Yorkshire and the Humber 2
North West 1
Wales 1
South West 1
West Midlands 1
East Midlands 1

Joyce Quin

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress has been made towards the aim in the White Paper, "Your Region, Your Choice", of encouraging Whitehall Departments to consider the balance of their staff between the centre and the regions in terms of effective policy design and implementation; and what examples there have been since the publication of the White Paper of Departments deciding between locating new streams of work(a) in and (b) outside London and the South East. [108576]

Mr. Raynsford

As my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer said in his Budget statement, the Government sees a strong case for relocating more civil service and wider public sector jobs away from London and the South East. Sir Michael Lyons has been asked to review departmental strategies in this regard and make recommendations for relocation across Government as a whole. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, as one that already has a strong regional presence, will be happy to give evidence.