§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the open day held by his Department in order to recruit more members of the ethnic minority community to join the Foreign Office. [14229]
§ Mr. Tony LloydWe were delighted to welcome more than 900 members of the public to this Department's Open Day on 19 September. Many young people from all over Britain attended; some had travelled form the Orkney Islands. They fully represented the diversity of modem Britain: ethnic minorities; people with disabilities; students from a variety of schools; careers advisers; religious and community leaders. non-governmental organisations and pressure groups representing a broad range of the interests of the people of the UK, at home and overseas, also joined us.
Our purpose in opening up this Department was to show what the Department does.
It is our intention to project this Department as a professional, modern and friendly organisation which works hard to represent the interests of the British people overseas and not the forbidding and stuffy place of popular myth. We hope that young women and men, from all communities and social backgrounds, will consider coming to work with us at this Department, helping us to make it an organisation which is truly representative of all the people of the UK.
The Open Day was a huge success. In September alone there was a 274 per cent. increase in the average monthly recruitment enquiries and this Department's monthly careers briefings are fully booked for months ahead.
We intend to make Open Days a regular feature in this Department's calendar of events.