§ Ms. Richardsonasked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 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 officers to promote section 47 of the Sex Discrimination Act, and (f) the action taken to facilitate jobshare, part-time working and parental leave.
§ Mr. ButcherIn the Department of Trade and Industry
- (a) the equal opportunity officer (EOO) has spent about 50 per cent. of his working time in the past year on equal opportunities duties;
- (b) the EOO is also the chief welfare officer and departmental nominated officer for staff restaurant matters;
- (c) there is no departmental budget specifically for equal opportunities work; those responsible for relevant activities (eg training, recruitment) make appropriate provision in their budgets;
23 - (d) the EOO meets all other EOOs at leat once a year: in addition there are ad hoc meetings and seminars of groups of EOOs on particular subjects;
- (e) the departmental training officer and the EOO have received central guidance on all aspects of promoting equal opportunities including positive action which may be taken to provide "minority sex" training under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975;
- (f) line managers have been encouraged to identify part-time working opportunities and staff to apply for such posts: maternity leave is available as well as special leave, where appropriate, to cover the care of children.