§ Mr. AllanTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many and what percentage of the152W (a) paid and (b) unpaid appointments which he has made to non-departmental public bodies since 1 May 1997 were women. [129856]
§ Mr. Chris Smith[holding answer 12 July 2000]: The information is as follows:
Total Paid Unpaid Number of appointments 358 123 (33.2%) 235 (66.8%) Number of women appointed 133 50 (40.6%) 83 (35.5%) My Department is 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 number of women, people from ethnic minorities and people with disabilities holding public appointments. The latest plan, together with the Government's overall plan, was published on 24 May 2000 in "Quangos: Opening up Public Appointments 2000–03", copies of which are in the Libraries of the House.