§ Ms. RichardsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is(a) the proportion of working time allocated to his departmental equal opportunities officer for equal opportunities duties, (b) the other duties carried out by the departmental equal opportunities officer, (c) the proportion, and the amount, of the departmental budget which is allocated to equal opportunities work, (d) the number of occasions when the departmental equal opportunities officer meets equal opportunities officers from other Government Departments each year, (e) the guidelines issued to his departmental training officers and equal opportunities 546W officers to promote the use of section 47 of the Sex Discrimination Act, and (f) the action taken to facilitate jobshare, part-time working and parental leave.
§ Mr. Rifkind[holding answer 30 October 1987]: (a) No fixed proportion of the equal opportunities officer's working time is allocated to equal opportunities duties. Many of the detailed duties are delegated to support staff. The total effort amounts to more than one full-time post.
(b) The head of the Department's personnel management division is equal opportunities officer; she is supported by a branch which has equal opportunities as one of its major duties.
(c) It is not possible to quantify accurately the cost of staff and other resources devoted to this issue because it fluctuates considerably over time.
(d) The equal opportunities officer or her deputy meets others responsible for equal opportunities on average once a year.
(e) None, but my Department is discussing with its trade union side the special training needs of women.
(f) Part-time working began some years ago and my Department is currently consulting its trade union side on arrangements for this and for job sharing.
A series of equal opportunities leaflets being produced for issue to staff will cover the leave arrangements which provide for parental leave in some circumstances.