HC Deb 31 October 1988 vol 139 cc508-9W
Mr. Janner

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he has taken to encourage the adoption of the recommendations of the Commission for Racial Equality and Equal Opportunities Commission's codes of practice including those relating to monitoring and positive action, in 1987 and so far in 1988, respectively.

Mr. Nicholls

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State takes every opportunity to commend the codes of practice issued by the Commission for Racial Equality and Equal Opportunities Commission and to encourage adoption of their recommendations. My Department's race relations employment advisory service continues to give specific advice and encouragement to employers on the adoption of the recommendations of the Commission for Racial Equality's code of practice including those relating to monitoring and positive action. Advisers also give general advice on the recommendations of the Equal Opportunities Commission's code of practice when asked to do so.

The service is currently giving particular emphasis to the positive action provisions within the Race Relations Act and is encouraging their greater use whenever appropriate. In the year ended 31 March 1988 advisers made 1,082 visits to employers. In the period from 1 April-30 September 1988, 529 visits have been made.

Mr. Janner

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether his Department's race relations advisory service reviewed the results of the ethnic monitoring exercises introduced by the 79 major private sector employers visited by it between April 1985 and December 1987.

Mr. Nicholls

My Department's race relations employment advisory service is essentially an advisory service and has no regulatory function. It would therefore be inappropriate for the service to undertake a review of this nature. However the research project to investigate the benefits that accrue from the introduction of ethnic monitoring systems by employers which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State mentioned in a previous reply to the hon. and learned Member on Thursday 31 March at column 526, will begin on 1 January 1989.

Mr. Janner

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what he estimates are the resource implications involved in seeking detailed information on the full extent of race and sex monitoring in the work place.

Mr. Nicholls

A comprehensive exercise to seek and evaluate the full extent of race and sex monitoring in the work place would be prohibitively costly.

Mr. Janner

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what he estimates to be the likely burdens on employers involved in any inquiry to seek detailed information on the full extent of race and sex monitoring in the work place, in the case of employers who already carry out monitoring in accordance with the codes of the Commission for Racial Equality and of the Equal Opportunities Commission, respectively; and what he estimates to be the likely additional burdens on employers who do not already carry out the recommendations in those codes.

Mr. Nicholls

Given the variations in size of organisations and their differing approaches to monitoring data, it is not possible to provide such estimates.

Mr. Janner

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether his Department's race relations advisory service is planning any further visits to private sector employers which will include inquiries into the introduction of ethnic monitoring.

Mr. Nicholls

It continues to be normal practice for my Department's race relations employment advisory service to discuss the subject of ethnic monitoring in all their contacts with employers in either the public or the private sector.