§ Mrs. McKayasked the First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Economic Affairs what is the percentage of women membership of the National Economic Development Committee and the individual Economic Development Committees and the Central Training Council; and whether he will increase this percentage as a gesture of encouragement to industry to appoint more women to top managerial posts.
§ Mr. FoleyThe table below sets out the percentage of women members of the bodies concerned.
Per cent. National Economic Development Council Nil Economic Development Committees: Building Nil Chemical Nil Civil Engineering Nil Chocolate and Sugar Confectionery Nil Distributive trades 27 Electrical Engineering Nil Electronics 6 Food Processing Nil Machine Tool 7 Mechanical Engineering Nil Movement of Exports 6 Paper and Board Nil Rubber Nil Wool Textiles Nil Central Training Council 10 Members of these bodies are appointed with regard to their suitability, position and qualifications and not according to whether they are men or women. Only when industry increases the number of 26W women in its top managerial posts can this be reflected in the membership of these bodies.