§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people from ethnic minorities have been recruited to each of the services for which his Department has set recruitment targets since the targets were established; how many personnel from ethnic minorities have left, prior to normal retirement age, each of these services in the same period; and if he will make a statement. [111319]
§ Mr. StrawI published on 28 July 1999 targets for the employment of ethnic minority staff in the Home Office and its service areas, that is the police, fire, prison and the probation services. The purpose of these race equality employment targets is to help ensure that these organisations are representative of the communities they serve, and thereby better able to serve them.
In the targets publication a commitment was given to report on progress annually. It is expect that the first report will be published in October this year. This is the date by which up to date information on progress within the financial year 1999–2000 on the targets from all the services will be available; such information is not readily available at the moment.