§ Mrs. Bridget PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what steps are being taken to recruit more women from outside the service into senior positions within the Security Service;
(2) what positive steps are being taken to promote women within the ranks of the Security Service;
§ Mr. HowardThe Security Service operates an equal opportunities policy. Recruitment and promotion are based on merit not gender.
§ Mrs. Bridget PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list the grades of post in order of seniority within the structure of the Security Service;
(2) how many personnel are currently employed by the Security Service; and how many are women;
(3) how many women are employed in each grade of post within the Security Service as a percentage of the total number of staff in that grade.
§ Mr. HowardThe Security Service employs about 2,000 people of whom just over 53 per cent. are women. The senior management group which is responsible for 1343W the overall direction of the service's work, and the general intelligence duties group, who are responsible for the service's investigative, assessment and policy work as well as operational tasks, together comprise 367 staff of whom 144–39 per cent.—are women. For operational reason I am not prepared to give a breakdown of the remaining occupational groups.