HC Deb 19 January 2000 vol 342 cc505-7W
Mr. McGrady

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many people have

Religious breakdown by Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)
1999 1997 1995 1992
NO ORG (%) SOC (%) NO ORG (%) SOC (%) NO ORG (%) SOC (%) NO ORG (%) SOC (%)
SOC1—Managers and Administrators
Protestant 182 27 69 191 29 69 198 29 70 192 28 72
Roman Catholic 78 12 30 78 12 28 79 11 28 66 9.5 25
Non Determined 4 6 1 6 9 2 7 1 2 9 1.3 3
SOC2—Professional Staff
Protestant 4 6 57 2 3 50 1 1 50
Roman Catholic 3 4 43 2 3 50 1 1 50
Non Determined
SOC3—Associated Professional
Protestant 1 15 100 1 1 100 2 0.3 100
Roman Catholic
Non Determined

been promoted within the Northern Ireland Court Service in each of the last three years; and what is the religious breakdown of such promotions. [105345]

Mr. Lock

I refer the hon. Member to the following table:

Number of promotions Protestant Roman Catholic
1997 11 9 2
1998 0 0 0
1999 6 4 2

Mr. McGrady

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many people are employed in the Northern Ireland Court Service. [105324]

Mr. Lock

There are 668 people employed in the Northern Ireland Court Service.

Mr. McGrady

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the current religious breakdown at all levels of staff in the Northern Ireland Court Service; what were the figures for(a) 1992, (b) 1995 and (c) 1997; and if he will make a statement. [105344]

Mr. Lock

For the purposes of consistency and fair comparison the Equality Commission requires all organisations to present their data in Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Groups.

The table represents the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Groups used by the Northern Ireland Court Service and shows the religious breakdown for each SOC Group within the Northern Ireland Court Service for 1999, 1997, 1995 and 1992.

The Community Background information is presented in terms of Numbers within the Organisation (NO).

These numbers are then shown both as a percentage within the Organisation as a whole (% Org) and as a percentage within each SOC Group (% SOC).

The following notable trends are apparent from the table: The representation of Roman Catholics in SOC 1 has increased from 25 per cent. to 30 per cent. since 1992. The representation of Roman Catholics has also increased in the Recruitment Grad (SOC 4) by 5 per cent. since 1997. SOC 6 and 9 are mainly representative of our Security Grades and we continue to work with the Equality Commission towards fair participation.

Religious breakdown by Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)
1999 1997 1995 1992
NO ORG (%) SOC (%) NO ORG (%) SOC (%) NO ORG (%) SOC (%) NO ORG (%) SOC (%)
SOC 4—Clerical and Secretarial
Protestant 192 29 62 186 28 64 193 28 66 155 22 61
Roman Catholic 105 16 34 84 13 29 88 13 30 74 11 29
Non Determined 13 2 4 21 3 7 13 1.9 4 27 3.9 10
SOC6—Personal and Protective
Protestant 18 2.7 75 21 3 75 25 3.6 78 26 3.7 72
Roman Catholic 4 6 16 3 4 11 2 3 6 3 0.4 8
Non Determined 2 3 8 4 6 14 5 7 16 7 1 19
SOC9—Others
Protestant 49 7.3 79 52 7.8 75 54 7.8 74 85 12 64
Roman Catholic 8 1.2 13 8 1.2 12 10 1.4 14 18 2.6 14
Non Determined 5 0.7 8 9 1.3 13 9 1.3 12 29 4.2 22

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