§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what percentage of the staff of his Department are women; and what the percentage was in June 1997. [66918]
§ Mr. AlexanderData on staffing levels is not available for June 1997 as it is only collected twice a year, as at 1 April and 1 October. We are currently in the process of collecting the data for 1 April 2002.
For current figures I would refer the hon. Member to the document on staffing that was released on 21 February 2002. For figures as at 1 April 1997 I would refer the hon. Member to Table 1D of Civil Service Statistics 1997, which was published on 29 January 1998. Copies of both the documents were placed in the Libraries of the House at the time of publication.
The Civil Service Reform programme is aiming to achieve a dramatic increase in diversity, whereby all individuals are valued and encouraged to maximise their potential. As part of this, targets have been set for 2005 to tackle under-representation in the Senior Civil Service, and departments have set targets across all grades. The Head of the Civil Service reports to the Prime Minister annually on diversity.