§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to recruit officers for the Security Service at universities other than Oxford, Cambridge and London. [157330]
§ Mr. StrawThe Security Service is committed to a policy of equal opportunity. The Service advertises in the national press and in media specifically offering employment opportunities for graduates from any higher education establishment, and not specific universities. Of those graduates recruited for the year 2000–01 as intelligence desk officers, at least 74 per cent. graduated from universities other than Oxford, Cambridge or London.
§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many members of each ethnic group are employed in senior grades of the Security Service; and what proportion each grade represents of the total. [157331]
§ Mr. StrawCurrently, all senior employees in the Security Service, equivalent to Senior Civil Service grades, are white. The number of such employees represents 1.4 per cent. of total staffing
The Security Service has been working to raise its profile as an employer among under-represented groups, for example through the use of carefully targeted advertising. The Service is determined, through continuing recruitment campaigns, to have a work force that fully reflects the society that it defends.
§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of employees in senior grades in the Security Service are women. [157332]
§ Mr. StrawCurrently, 13.8 per cent. of the senior grades in the Security Service, that is grades equivalent to Senior Civil Service grades, are women.