§ Miss Joan Lestorasked the Prime Minister how many women are on the list of persons available for public appointment.
§ The Prime MinisterThere are 727 women on the central list held by the public appointments unit in the Management and Personnel Office. Specialised lists are also held in certain other Departments.
§ Miss Joan Lestorasked the Prime Minister what percentage of public appointments in the past year were drawn from the public appointments unit; and how many of these were (a) men and (b) women.
§ The Prime MinisterRecords are not held in a form which would enable the information sought to be given without incurring disproportionate costs. The latest report 247W from the Equal Opportunities Commission, however, showed that during 1981, the latest year for which figures are available, 23 per cent. of appointments made were of women. The public appointments unit loses no opportunity to increase the number of suitable women on its register and to put their names forward for consideration by appointing Ministers.