§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the names of those he has appointed to his Advisory Council on Race Relations and the organisations they represent; on what matters the council has given recent advice; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter LloydThe membership of the Advisory Council on Race Relations is 22. Membership falls into two categories; individual members appointed for a two-year period by the Home Secretary, and representative members who are nominated by certain designated 809W organisations. The individual members are Miss Salome Asamoah, Mrs. Salma Ahmed, Mr. David Bryan, Mr. Thomas Chan, Mr. Chris Kavallares, Dr. Zaka Khan, Mr. Ravi Mooneeram, Dr. Dwain Neil, Mr. Shantilal Ruparell, Mr. Iqbal Sacranie, Mr. Tufail Shaheen, Mr. Jack Shieh, Ms. Anesta Weekes and Mr. Ranbir Singh Suri. Representative members are nominated by the Commission for Racial Equality, the TUC, the CBI, the London Boroughs Associations, the Association of Metropolitan Authorities, the Association of County Councils, the Association of District Councils and the National Association of Racial Equality Councils.
Recent topics for discussion have included immigration; race relations and the armed forces; community languages and culture; housing; ethnic minority appointments to public bodies; the terms of reference of the advisory council; the citizens charter; and ethnic monitoring in the criminal justice system.
I attach great importance to the work of the advisory council and welcome its contribution to current issues of policy.