§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many civil servants at each grade within his Department were of Asian origin on 5 May. [241]
§ Dr. HowellsThe numbers of Asian staff at each grade within the Department on 5 May are shown in the following table. For convenience the figures have been grouped into grade equivalents.
Grade level Number of Asian staff Permanent Secretary 0 Director/Director general 1— Grade 6 0 Grade 7 6 SEO 0 HEO 8 EO 29 AO 42 AA 17 1 The number of Asian staff at Divisional Manager is less than 6 and is therefore not shown, in accordance with the Department's agreed code of conduct on the use of ethnic monitoring data.
§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what proposals he has to increase the number of employees from ethnic minorities within his Department. [242]
§ Dr. HowellsIn recruiting staff, DFEE aims to ensure that vacancies are brought to the attention of all groups in the community, including people from ethnic minorities. To achieve this, the Department has used a range of methods including advertising vacancies in publications which are widely read by people from ethnic minorities; direct recruitment in universities with high numbers of students from ethnic minorities; and asking Job Centres recruiting on its behalf to use outreach methods to make all groups aware of vacancies, for example through local community organisations and educational institutions. The Department will continue to make appropriate use of such methods, and to monitor their effectiveness.
As a Champion of the Race for Opportunity campaign sponsored by Business in the Community, over the next year the Department will be carrying out an audit of its 30W employment practices, including recruitment and selection procedures, to ensure that they do not create barriers for people from ethnic minorities.