HC Deb 23 June 1988 vol 135 cc684-5W
Mr. Janner

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has appointed an equal opportunities officer.

Mr. Hurd

There are two equal opportunities officers in the Home Office, one for the prison service and one for the rest of the Department.

Mr. Janner

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advertisements he has placed in ethnic and local press in order to promote greater equality in his Department.

Mr. Hurd

Some of our recruitment advertisements have been placed in the ethnic or local press. All recruitment advertisements refer to our commitment to equal opportunities in employment.

Mr. Janner

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department by what methods his management training courses and those for members of recruitment and promotion boards address equal opportunities.

Mr. Hurd

The issue of equal opportunities is addressed on these training courses by means of presentations, discussion, and sometimes syndicate exercises.

Mr. Janner

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of officers in each grade and overall in his Department are women and from ethnic minorities, respectively.

Mr. Hurd

The figures refer to non-industrial staff as at 1 May 1988. (Part-timers are counted as whole units).

Mr. Janner

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department by what means he collected data on the ethnic origins and sex of staff; and whether he will place a copy of the collected data in the Library.

Mr. Hurd

Data on the sex of staff is collected routinely. Relevant figures have recently been published in "Equal Opportunities for Women in the Civil Service: Progress Report 1984–87". Data about ethnic origins have been gathered in a series of regional surveys of all non-industrial civil servants, by means of voluntary self-classification. The results of the surveys have been published by the Office of the Minister for the Civil Service (OMCS) and are available in the Library. All applicants for employment are now asked about their ethnic origin and sex, and OMCS will periodically publish up-dated information.

Mr. Janner

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what disparities in recruitment and promotion he identified by using the data collected on the ethnic origins and sex of staff.

Mr. Hurd

We have monitored all recruitment schemes since October 1987, and have recently begun to examine promotion. The information gathered so far is being assessed, but it is too early to reach firm conclusions.

Mr. Janner

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what effect he has achieved through the steps he has taken to promote greater equality in his Department for women and for people from ethnic minorities, respectively, by use of part-time work, job-sharing, flexible working hours and arrangements for special leave.

Mr. Hurd

The arrangements for part-time work, job sharing, flexible working hours and special leave apply equally to both sexes and people from all ethnic groups; but they are likely to be particularly useful for staff with domestic responsibilities. At present, the Home Office has nearly 1,000 part-time members of staff, and 21 sets of job sharers; and some 8,000 members of staff are on flexible working hours schemes.

Mr. Janner

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what contacts he has made with ethnic minority communities in order to promote greater equality of employment within his Department.

Mr. Hurd

Meetings have been held with ethnic minority community and Church leaders. Details of our equal opportunities policy as it relates to staff have been given to the National Association of Community Relations Councils. Members of the ethnic minorities have addressed internal training course. We have close links with Project Fullemploy, which trains young people from the inner cities, many of whom are from the ethnic minorities. This year, we hope to sponsor a student under the Windsor Fellowship scheme, most of whose fellows are from ethnic minorities.