HC Deb 24 April 2002 vol 384 cc331-2W
Mr. Stinchcombe

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many(a) governing governors and (b) governor grades of prison establishments in England and Wales are from an ethnic minority group; [50632]

(2) what proportion of staff in the Prison Service are from an ethnic minority group. [50631]

Beverley Hughes

As at 31 March 2002 in publicly managed prison establishments, one governing governor and 21 out of 920 senior operational managers, formerly known as governor grades, were recorded as being from minority ethnic groups. 58 staff have declined to state their ethnicity and data are unavailable on a further three. In privately managed prison establishments no directors, and two out of 85 senior operational staff, were recorded as being from minority ethnic groups.

Race Equality Employment Target is one of the Prison Service's key performance indicators and targets for 2001–02. The target proportion of staff from a minority ethnic group to be achieved in publicly managed prison establishments by April 2002 is 4.1 per cent. The service is updating its personnel records with the introduction of the 2001 census of new ethnicity classifications. Provisional figures at the end of March 2002 suggest that the proportion of staff from a minority ethnic group is 4.9 per cent. In privately managed prison establishments the proportion of staff from a minority ethnic group is 2.8 per cent.