HC Deb 12 July 2000 vol 353 cc601-2W
Mr. Allan

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many and what percentage of the(a) paid and (b) unpaid appointments which he has made to non-departmental public bodies since 1 May 1997 were women. [129853]

Jane Kennedy

Of the non-judicial appointments made to our non-departmental public bodies since 1stMay 1997, nine (or 32 per cent.) of the paid appointments have been women and 305 (or 41 per cent.) of the unpaid ones have been women.

This Government are committed to increasing the representation of women in public life. In support of this, the Department has drawn up an action plan for increasing the numbers of women and people from ethnic minorities holding public appointments. The latest plans, together with the Government's overall plan, were published on 24 May 2000 in "Quangos: Opening Up Public Appointments 2000–2003", copies of which are in the Libraries of the House.