HC Deb 25 June 1993 vol 227 cc312-3W
Mr. Livingstone

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many, by category, of the commissioned, warrant and non-commissioned officers, and other ranks marching on Horseguards parade during Trooping of the Colour were from the(a) African, (b) Afro-Caribbean and (c) Indian or other non-white communities; what proportion in each case they represented of the total number of troops taking part; what steps are being taken to ensure that the recruitment of officers and other ranks to these regiments becomes representative of the ethnic structure of the population generally; and what targets there are to set the regiments concerned towards achieving this.

Mr. Hanley

No records are currently held of the ethnic origins of any Army personnel. We are, however, planning to introduce in-service ethnic monitoring which will provide a breakdown of the ethnic origins of serving personnel of all ranks. A number of measures are in place to encourage the recruitment of ethnic minorities into the Army. Targets for recruitment from ethnic minority communities are set for the Army as a whole, not for individual regiments and corps, and for 1993–94 the target is set at 1.5 per cent., as it is for the other two services.