§ Mr. JannerTo ask the Lord President of the Council (1) what steps he has taken to recruit members of ethnic minorities in top grades of employment in his office;
(2) when his office last conducted a survey of the ethnic origin of its employees; when it next plans to do so; and whether he will make a statement;
(3) how many and what percentage of officers in grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, respectively, and overall in his Department are members of ethnic minorities.
§ Mr. NewtonThe Privy Council Office has 31 staff, many of whom are on loan from other civil service Departments. It has no staff in grades 1 and 2, and has three permanent staff in grades 3 to 7, none of whom are members of ethnic minorities. Five per cent. of permanent staff below grade 7 are members of such minorities. Given this background, the conduct of surveys is inappropriate. On the rare occasions when direct recruitment is undertaken, every effort is made to ensure that selection procedures are fair and non-discriminatory.