§ Lord Lairdasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many officials, of what rank and at what cost, are employed in each department in Northern Ireland and in the Northern Ireland Office, promoting equality. [HL2630]
§ Lord Williams of MostynIt is difficult to identify precisely the number of officials within the Northern Ireland Office and the Northern Ireland administration who have responsibility for promoting equality as it is a fundamental part of every civil servant's role to promote equality.
Within the Northern Ireland Office 10 officials are employed either wholly or mainly in the development and maintaining of equality policy. These include two Grade As, four Grade B1 s, two Grade B2s and two Grade Cs and their total salary cost is approximately £281,654.00. In addition, a considerable number of other staff support operational divisions in the promotion of equality as part of their wider responsibilities. It is not possible to apportion a percentage of salary costs to attribute to this activity.
The 11 departments of the Northern Ireland administration have identified 110 officials who are employed either wholly or mainly in this role. They 42WA include four senior civil servants and 106 other grades. The salary cost of these officials is approximately £3.44 million.