§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will provide a breakdown, in numerical and percentage terms, of the ethnic origin, at 1 March, of(a) his private office, (b) Government special advisers, (c) his Policy Unit and (d) staff in total. [78510]
§ Mr. Mudie(a) Private office The ethnic origin of staff in the Department of Education and Employment's Private Office as at 1 March 1999 are as follows:
Category Numbers Percentages White 45 85 Black 1— 1— Asian 1— 1— Other 1— 1— 1Represent numbers of 5 or less and percentages which correspond to numbers of 5 or less. This presentation of the statistics is in line with the DfEE code of practice on disclosure of ethnic origin to maintain confidentiality of the data for individuals. (b) Government special advisers The numbers of special advisers are so few in the Department that I should like to refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office to my hon. Friend the Member for Brent, East (Mr. Livingstone) on 22 February 1999, Official Report, column 39.
(c) Policy unit This area is not applicable to the Department.
(d) Staff in total My right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office will provide a response to this part of the question for all Departments.