HC Deb 22 May 1997 vol 294 cc141-3W
Mr. Vaz

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proposals he has to increase the number of ethnic minority employees in his Department. [723]

Mr. Hoon

For the Lord Chancellor's Department, including the Court Service and the Public Trust Office, the Department's Programme of action to achieve equality of opportunity for people of ethnic minority origin sets out specific commitments in respect of recruitment, retention and development of ethnic minority employees, including monitoring the impact of the commitments. Equal Opportunities statements are included in all recruitment literature and advertisements. Training on equal opportunities is obligatory for all staff in management grades, to assist in retention of ethnic minority employees. Sponsorship of ethnic minority students under the Windsor Fellowship scheme and

Mandate Equivalent Grade Grade Indian Pakistani Bangladeshi East African Chinese Other Totals
SCS1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
SRA (Lawyer) Grade 7 1 0 0 1 0 1 3
RE I SEO 1 0 0 2 0 0 3
RE2 HEO 2 0 1 1 0 2 6
RE3 EO 16 2 0 8 3 5 34
ROI AO 15 1 0 1 2 9 28
RO2 AO 76 6 0 24 4 16 126
RA 1 AA 34 2 0 14 1 7 58
RA2 AA 18 2 2 10 2 11 45
Totals 164 13 3 61 12 51 304

Letter from Sarah Tyacke to Mr. Keith Vaz, dated 19 May 1997: I have been asked by the Lord Chancellor's Parliamentary Secretary to reply for the Public Record Office to your question. The Office is an executive agency of the Lord Chancellor. The numbers by grade of civil servants of Asian origin in the Public Record Office on 5 May were:

Public record office band Civil Servant of Asian origin
3 1
4 4
5 23
6 15
Mr. Vaz

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many civil servants, of each grade, in his Department, were of Asian origin, on 5 May. [722]

Mr. Hoon

For the Lord Chancellor's Department, including the Court Service and the Public Trust Office, the information is set ut in the table below. I have asked the Chief Executives of the Land Registry and the Public Record Office to reply separately. There is no legislative requirement to monitor the ethnic origin of Northern Ireland Court Service employees and no figures are available.

provision of mentors for the National Mentoring scheme help to promote the Lord Chancellor's Department as an attractive employer to minority ethnic groups.

The Northern Ireland Court Service has no proposals/targets specific to ethnic minority employees, but it is the policy of the Service to ensure equality of opportunity for all current and potential employees on the basis of merit alone. I have asked the Chief Executives of the Land Registry and of the Public Record Office to reply separately.

Letter from Stuart Hill to Mr. Keith Vaz, dated 22 May 1997: I have been asked by the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, to reply to your recent question concerning the number of civil servants of Asian origin in his Department and Agencies. The table below sets out the number of employees of HM Land Registry who are of Asian origin together with their grade. The information is derived form declarations by Land Registry staff and the position is shown as on 5 May 1997.

Grade Level Number of civil servants of Asian origin (including casual staff)
HEO and above 16
EO 82
Bailiff 6
AO 271
AA 38
SGB 1 and 2 33
Typist 28
Total 474

Letter from Sarah Tyacke to Mr. Keith Vaz, dated 19 May 1997: I have been asked by the Lord Chancellor's Parliamentary Secretary to reply for the Public Record Office to your question. The Office is an executive agency of the Lord Chancellor. The Public Record Office has no specific proposals to increase the number of its ethnic minority employees. It is however an equal opportunities employer and its recruitment practice follows the guidelines on fair and open competition from the Civil Service Commissioners' Recruitment Code (2nd edition 1996). Currently 17% of its employees are from ethnic minorities.

Letter from Stuart Hill to Mr. Keith Vaz, dated 22 May 1997: I have been asked by the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, to reply to your recent question concerning proposals to increase the number of ethnic minority employees. HM Land Registry's Programme for action to achieve equality of opportunity for people of ethnic minority origin sets out specific commitments in respect of recruitment, retention, training and development of ethnic minority employees, including monitoring the impact of commitments. Training on equal opportunities is mandatory for all staff on entry to a management grade and additional training is provided before staff are involved in recruitment procedures. "Equal Opportunities" statements are included in all our recruitment literature and advertisements.