§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his Department's review of the policy relating to ethnic monitoring within the armed forces has been completed; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonThe armed forces are equal opportunity employers under the Race Relations Act 1976 and have undertaken a range of measures to increase recruitment from ethnic minority communities. To underline our commitment to equal opportunities for all ethnic groups, we have now decided to extend to serving personnel our present practice of monitoring the ethnic origins of applicants to join the armed forces. The information gathered will be used solely for monitoring our equal opportunity policy and individual's ethnic records will be guaranteed confidentiality. We have set further work in hand to draw up detailed proposals for a monitoring scheme. We intend that this will be implemented as soon as practicable.