§ Mr. Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether his current records show whether members of one sex (a) do not apply for promotion in his Department or that fewer apply than might be expected, (b) are recruited, promoted or appointed in a significantly lower proportion than their rate of application or (c) are concentrated in certain jobs, sections or departments.
§ Mr. Gummer[pursuant to his reply, 26 January 1984, c. 660]: No. The promotion system in this Department does not normally operate on the basis of application. Exceptionally, officers are invited to apply for specific posts or for vacancies in defined shortage areas.
Information analysed by sex is not collected on applicants for recruitment schemes organised by this Department, but all recruitment is run on principles laid down by the Civil Service Commission designed to ensure fair and open competition without discrimination on grounds of sex.
Current records show the distribution of men and women by grade and location but not the duties which they perform; such an analysis would be prohibitively expensive for an organisation as large, scattered and diverse as the Department of Employment group.
§ Mr. Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Employment when he last carried out an analysis of information required for sex monitoring; and when he proposes that the same will be updated.
§ Mr. Gummer[pursuant to his reply, 26 January 1984, c. 660]: Information analysed by sex is kept under regular review by officials in this Department with responsibility for equal opportunities, who have access to information held on central personnel computer records which are updated monthly.