HC Deb 16 November 1998 vol 319 c370W
Mr. Vaz

To ask the Prime Minister if he will provide a breakdown, in numerical and percentage terms, of the ethnic origin, as at 1 October 1997 of members of(a) his private office, (b) Government special advisers, (c) No. 10 Policy Unit and (d) No. 10 Downing Street staff in total. [56841]

The Prime Minister

Information on the ethnic origin of civil servants is collected on a voluntary basis, using confidential questionnaires. The number and percentage of ethnic minority staff in the private office, Government special advisers and No. 10 Policy Unit and for No. 10 Downing Street in total are set out in the table. These figures are for 1 November 1998. We are unable to verify retrospective data for 1 October 1997.

Ethnic origin of No. 10 staff and Government Special Advisers1
Department Total Ethnic minority Ethnic minority(%)
All Downing Street staff 145 7 4.8
Private Office 9 0 0
No. 10 Policy Unit 19 2 2
Government Special Advisers 55 0 0
1Headcount of staff who responded to survey on ethnic origin
2 Less than 5 staff

Source: Departmental Returns