§ Mr. JannerTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he has taken to recruit women, members of ethnic minorities and disabled people, respectively, in top grades of employment at his Department.
§ Mr. MatesThe Northern Ireland civil service and the home civil service are equal opportunity employers and welcome applications from men and women, irrespective of their religion, disability or ethnic origin. Recruitment to the senior grades of the home civil service and the Northern Ireland civil service is on the basis of merit in fair and open competition. Both are members of Opportunity and the Northern Ireland civil service has set itself voluntary goal of increasing the proportion of women in the senior general service, grade 5 and above, to 10 per cent. by 31 December 1998.
§ Mr. JannerTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when his Department last conducted surveys of(a) ethnic origins and (b) the number of women among its employees; when it next plans to do so; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MatesThe Northern Ireland Office, home civil service, last conducted a complete survey of the ethnic origins of all staff in 1988; the data have been updated as and when staff have joined the Department. The number of women in post can be surveyed by means of the personnel information system at any appropriate time.
Compositional analysis of the Northern Ireland civil service by religion, sex and disability is a regular feature of the work of its equal opportunities unit. Particular surveys to establish the number of female staff are not required. The Northern Ireland civil service does not monitor the ethnic origin of staff.
§ Mr. JannerTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what percentage of officers in each grade from 1 to 7 and overall in his Department are(a) women, (b) from ethnic minorities and (c) disabled people.
§ Mr. MatesAt 1 January 1993 there were 114 female staff in the Northern Ireland Office, home civil service, which represents 50 per cent. of the Department. The number in grades 1 to 7 was as follows:
Grade Number Percentage 1 0 — 2 0 — 3 0 — 4 0 — 5 0 — 6 0 — 7 4 17 A total of 14 per cent. of the Department are from the ethnic minorities—London only—and none of the staff is registered disabled.
At 1 January 1992 there were 12,661 female staff in the Northern Ireland civil service, which is 43 per cent. of the service. There were 431, 1.5 per cent., who were, or had been registered as disabled. The Northern Ireland civil service does not monitor the ethnic origin of its staff.
395WThe number and percentage of female staff and staff with disabilities in each grade, 1 to 7, was:
Grade Number of females Percentage female Number who self-reported a disability (SRD) Percentage SRD Number registered as disabled (RD) Percentage RD 1 — — — — — — 2 — — — — — — 3 1 2.4 1 2.4 1 2.4 4 — — — — — — 5 14 7.4 5 2.6 — — 6 60 17.2 13 3.7 3 0.9 7 81 9.7 22 2.6 3 0.4 In addition, 64 registered disabled people are currently working in the Northern Ireland civil service under the sheltered placement scheme.