HC Deb 11 January 2002 vol 377 cc1029-30W
Mr. Gordon Prentice

To ask the President of the Council what recent steps the House of Lords Appointments Commission has taken to encourage more applications from under-represented groups. [24382]

Mr. Robin Cook

I understand that the report which the House of Lords Appointments Commission published alongside its first list of names in April 2001 made clear that they wanted to encourage more high-quality nominations from women, and from other regions of the country outside of the south-east. The commission has also made clear that its wishes to continue receiving outstanding nominations from ethnic minorities.