§ Mr. JannerTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what percentage of candidates for recruitment to the armed forces during the past 12 months have come from minority ethnic groups; and what number and what percentage of successful recruits came from those groups;
(2) whether he has any proposals to increase the number and percentage of ethnic minorities in armed forces.
§ Mr. NeubertI refer the hon. Member to the results of the first year of the ethnic monitoring of applicants and recruits to the armed forces which my predecessor reported to the House on 15 November 1988 at columns621–22. It is our aim to increase the number of recruits from the ethnic minorities. We already try to direct our recruiting effort to all ethnic groups and we are considering what more can be done. To that end discussions have taken place with the Commission for Racial Equality and in the Home Secretary's advisory council on race relations and a contract has been placed with independent consultants to survey the attitudes of young people from the ethnic minorities towards the services, to examine the services' recruitment criteria and practices and to consider the effectiveness and value for money of a range of measures designed to increase recruiting from the ethnic minorities.