HC Deb 22 February 2000 vol 344 cc948-51W
Caroline Flint

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in the last five years, what proportion of women employees in (i) his Department and (ii) executive agencies under the control of his Department,(a) returned to work after childbirth, (b) returned to work after childbirth before the end of maternity leave, indicating the (1) time-range and (2) mean time, (c) returned to work after childbirth on reduced working hours, indicating the average hours worked and (d) returned to work after childbirth full-time and subsequently reduced their hours. [109234]

Dr. Howells

In DTI Headquarters, the following data are available on women taking and returning from maternity leave in the last five years:

Calendar year Number of staff going on maternity leave Number of staff returning from maternity leave
1995 116 32
1996 101 39
1997 67 37
1998 69 44
1999 67 37
Total 420 189

Those returning in each year may, in addition to their maternity leave entitlement on full pay, have taken a period of unpaid maternity leave which may extend up to 41 weeks after the birth. They will not therefore have necessarily begun their leave in the same year. Other staff may continue on a career break for up to 5 years following their full maternity leave entitlement.It is not possible to obtain the full data requested on length of maternity leave or hours worked on return for Headquarters staff using the Department's current personnel database without incurring disproportionate cost. Chief Executives of the Departments Agencies have been asked to reply separately.

Letter from Ian Jones to Caroline Flint, dated 22 February 2000: You tabled a Parliamentary Question on 4 February to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry about women employees in his Department and executive agencies. I have been asked to reply in respect of the Employment Tribunals Service (ETS) which is an executive agency of the DTI. Between 1997 and 1999 forty-three staff returned from maternity leave. I am able to inform you that the remaining information you have requested is either not available or could only be made available at disproportionate cost. It is not possible for ETS to identify most of the data requested, using the current Personnel data system (Permis), without more complex programming which would take several days. The information dates only from the period since the inception of the Employment Tribunals Service as an executive agency in 1997. There are no earlier records held on the Permis system.

Letter from J. S. Holden to Caroline Flint, dated 22 February 2000: I have been asked to reply to your recently tabled Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in respect of Companies House Executive Agency. In the last five years, of the total number of women employees who have taken maternity leave.

  1. (a) 100% returned to work after childbirth. However, 5% left shortly afterwards as they only returned so that they would not lose their paid maternity leave benefit. They would have been accommodated in part-time posts if they had so wished.
  2. (b) 100% took their full paid maternity benefit.
  3. (c) 30% changed their hours immediately on their return to work, and then worked on average 19 hours per week.
  4. (d) 15% returned to full-time hours and changed to part-time hours subsequently, and then worked on average 24 hours per week.
The remainder carried on working their previous working pattern by choice, which could be either full-time or part-time.

Letter from David Hendon to Caroline Flint, dated 22 February 2000: The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has asked me to reply to your question on behalf of the Radiocommunications Agency. The following information relates to women within the Radiocommunications Agency who have taken maternity leave in the last five years.

  1. (a) 84 percent of women returned to work after childbirth
  2. (b) 66 percent of those women returned to work before the end of maternity leave of which the time range was 41 weeks and the mean time was 18 weeks
  3. (c) 6 percent of women returned to work after childbirth on reduced working hours for which the average part-time hours worked was 19 hours per week
  4. (d) 9 percent of women returned work after childbirth on a full-time basis but subsequently reduced their hours.

Letter from Peter Joyce to Caroline Flint, dated 22 February 2000: The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has asked me to reply to your question about the proportion of women employees in The Insolvency Service who in the last five years (a) returned to work after childbirth, (b) returned to work after childbirth before the end of maternity leave, indicating the (1) time-range and (2) mean time, (c) returned to work after childbirth on reduced working hours, indicating the average hours worked and (d) returned to work after childbirth full-time and subsequently reduced their hours. The table below provides limited information about the number and percentage* of female staff commencing and returning from maternity leave in the last five years:

Year Number of women commencing maternity leave Percentage Number of women returning from maternity leave Percentage
1995 27 3.75 40 5.6
1996 33 4.6 31 4.3
1997 29 4.0 32 4.4
1998 33 4.6 30 4.2
1999 20 2.8 28 3.9
* Based on the estimated number of women working in The Service during the five years of 720.

However, I regret that the information held centrally by The Service on its staff is not maintained in a form which would provide the specific details you have asked for except at disproportionate cost.

Letter from Seton Bennett to Caroline Flint, dated 22 February 2000: The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has asked me to reply on behalf of NWML to your question regarding women employees returning to work after childbirth. Within the Agency in the last 5 years, 3 women employees (12.5% of the female workforce here) have taken maternity leave. Thus, in response to your specific questions:

  1. (a) 100% returned to work after childbirth
  2. (b) None returned before the end of maternity leave
  3. (c) 100% returned to work on reduced working hours (although one employee had been part-time prior to maternity leave), the average hours being 20 per week.
  4. (d) None returned full-time and subsequently reduced their hours. I trust that this will be satisfactory.

Letter from Alison Brimelow to Caroline Flint, dated 22 February 2000: I am replying on behalf of the Patent Office to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry relating to the return to work of women employees after childbirth during the last five years. The information is based on 77 cases.

  1. (a) 81.8% returned to work after childbirth.
  2. (b) 35% returned to work before the end of the Statutory Maternity Pay period.
    1. (i) time range 5–15 weeks
    2. (ii) mean time 14.04 weeks
  3. (c) 26.8% returned to work on reduced working hours at an average of 18 hours per week.
  4. (d) 15.6% returned to work full-time and subsequently reduced their hours.

Mr. Cox

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many senior civil servants from an ethnic minority background are employed in his Department; and how many of them are(a) men and (b) women. [110688]

Dr. Howells

As at 1 April 1999, 55 members of the senior civil service as a whole were from an ethnic minority background (1.7 per cent).

Information on ethnic origin in the Civil Service is collected on the understanding that it will be treated on a confidential basis. To protect the privacy of individual members of staff we do not disclose data relating to fewer than five people.

My Department has fewer than five people of ethnic minority background in the Senior Civil Service.