§ Mr. Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he has taken, since the coming into effect of the code of the Commission for Racial Equality on 1 April, to ensure compliance by his Department and, in particular, with the recommendations in respect of ethnic monitoring and of positive action, respectively.
§ Mr. YoungerA statement on procedures and policies on race relations within the Civil Service has already been circulated throughout my Department. An equal opportunities officer has been designated within the Department but no ethnic monitoring has been undertaken. Copies of the commission's code of practice will shortly be distributed to personnel management staff in my Department. Future action on ethnic monitoring will be considered once the surveys carried out in the north-west and Avon have been evaluated. The kind of positive action which the code recommends is appropriate only where under-representation can be demonstrated.