§ Jackie BallardTo ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he has established a baseline for policy appraisal against which to measure progress on equal treatment. [93464]
§ Mr. KilfoyleAs part of the Government's commitment to ensuring that their policies are relevant to the lives that people live today my Department is working with the Women's Unit, Home Office, and DfEE to develop good practices for ensuring that our policies meet the changing needs of all members of society.
"Policy Appraisal for Equal Treatment", published by the Cabinet Office, Home Office, DfEE and the Women's Unit in November 1998, has been circulated to staff within my Department to ensure that the effects of any policy changes on all sections of the population are considered at the earliest stage of policy development.
As part of the Modernising Government White Paper, we have made a commitment to increasing the number of female senior civil servants from 18 per cent. to 35 per cent. and those from ethnic minorities from 1.6 per cent. to 3.2 per cent. by 2004–05. We will be setting targets for people with disabilities later in the year.