§ Ms Oona KingTo ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what progress the Government have made in increasing the representation of ethnic minorities in the Civil Service. [101449]
§ Mr. StringerThe "Modernising government" White Paper sets a target of doubling the proportion of people drawn from ethnic minority backgrounds in the Senior Civil Service to 3.2 per cent. in 2004–05. We will report on the progress we have made against these targets next year.
The proportion of ethnic minority staff in the Civil Service, as a whole, has increased from 4.2 per cent. in 1989 to 5.7 per cent. in 1998. This compares with 5.4 per cent. in the economically active population.