§ Mr. AllanTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 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. [129839]
§ Dawn Primarolo[holding answer 11 July 2000]: This Government are committed to increasing the 97W representation of women in public life. In support of this, I have drawn up an action plan for increasing the number of women and ethnic minorities holding public appointments in public bodies of the Chancellor's Departments and Agencies.
The same question was tabled by the hon. Member for Taunton (Jackie Ballard) in April 1998 and an answer was subsequently given on 29 April 1998, Official Report, columns 161–62W. Information of appointments made since then is as follows:
Number of appointments since 29 April 1998 Paid Unpaid Number of women appointed 5 33 Women as percentage of appointments 38 85