§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Rooker on 27 November (WA 42), whether they are satisfied with the proportion of women and ethnic minorities working in the fire service in England and Wales; and, if not, what action they intend to take to increase their numbers. [HL440]
§ Lord RookerNo, the Government are not satisfied, which is why the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is working with the fire service to achieve a workforce that better reflects the communities it serves; to help the service remove barriers to creating a more diverse workforce and to assist in raising the profile of the service as a career choice within currently under-represented groups.
Research1 commissioned by the Government found that the image of the fire service as a potential career among women and ethnic minorities is low, influenced by a lack of adequate information. We have begun to address this issue through the publication in November 2001 of new national recruitment literature.
The fire service has also been set targets to increase by 2009 the representation of women in the operational sector to 15 per cent and to increase ethnic minority repesentation to 7 per cent across the uniformed and non-uniformed sectors.
On 5 September the Government established the independent review of the fire service, led by Sir George Bain. The independent review's position paper of 11 November proposed the development of new national recruitment processes to encourage a more divese workforce, which received the endorsement of the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Commission for Racial Equality. The independent review's final report is expected shortly.
1 Home Office Fire Research and Development Group Research Reports 4/1999, 2/2000, 3/2000 and 4/2000, copies of which can be found in the Library of the other place.