§ Ms JowellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department is taking to collect statistics broken down by gender where relevant. [17691]
§ Mrs. Angela Knight[holding answer 29 February 1996]: Statistics collected by the Central Statistical Office—CSO—are designed to improve decision making, stimulate research and inform debate within government and the wider community. Where it is relevant to this purpose to collect statistics broken down by gender, the CSO will consider doing so. For example, last year, to coincide with the world women's conference in Beijing, the CSO published "Social Focus on Women", which provided statistics on women from a wide variety of sources.
Statistics concerning staff employed in the Treasury are normally based on pay and personnel records, which include information on sex. Statistical information about personnel can therefore usually be broken down by sex.