§ Mr. Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements are in hand to ensure that his Department complies with the monitoring and positive action recommendations of the draft code of the Equal Opportunities Commission following the publication on 9 February 1984 of the programme of action on women in the Civil Service.
§ Mr. ButlerIn accordance with the programme of action, a departmental equal opportunities officer has been appointed with responsibility for co-ordinating the Civil Service policy of non-discrimination within the Ministry of Defence. This officer acts as a focal point for monitoring the equal opportunities policy.
Existing joint management and trades union machinery is being used to review such matters as promotion, selection for training and the incidence of part-time working.
Women are being encouraged to attend courses and to make the maximum use of the training opportunities available. A developmental course for women middle managers is currently being run on a regular basis by this Department's central training division and use is also being made of the Civil Service college course in middle management for women only.