§ Mr. VazTo ask the Solicitor-General what ethnic monitoring she has initiated concerning use of counsel by her Department. [46170]
§ The Solicitor-GeneralAs to civil work, since the introduction of a competitive appointments system in 1998 all applicants to be included in panels of junior counsel maintained by the Attorney General and as standing counsel have been asked to complete an equal opportunities monitoring form which asks them to indicate their ethnic origin. Completion of the form is voluntary. The method of selection for the panels and the operation of the panel system is being reviewed.
As to criminal work apart from the Crown Prosecution Service and the Serious Fraud Office, a panel of junior counsel conducting cases on behalf of HM Customs and Excise, the Inland Revenue, the Department of Work and Pensions/Health, the 886W Department of Trade and Industry, DEFRA, the Health and Safety Executive and the Environment Agency is being set up.
All applicants to be considered for the panel and, in the recently concluded appointments exercise for the Customs and Excise and the Department of Trade and Industry, as standing counsel, have been invited to complete an equal opportunities monitoring form, completion of which is voluntary.
As to the Crown Prosecution Service, all applicants to be considered for lists of junior counsel maintained by the CPS are invited to complete an ethnic monitoring form on a voluntary basis. The CPS maintains a national database with details of the ethnicity and gender of all counsel on its lists. Since July 2001 the CPS has been monitoring its distribution of work to counsel by ethnicity and gender. A computer program has been developed to facilitate data collection which will be made available in all CPS areas within the next few months. The information currently being gathered is shared with the Bar and the distribution of work is discussed at regular liaison meetings, which take place on all circuits.
The Serious Fraud Office is in the process of establishing a new counsel "pool" containing the names of counsel considered suitable for SFO work, who have been referred by their Heads of Chambers. When accepted by the Director for inclusion in the SFO "pool", counsel are invited to complete an individual ethnic monitoring form on a voluntary basis. When the new pool has been in operation for a year, the results of this monitoring will be reviewed.
The Law Officers are committed to promoting diversity and equal opportunity. Advertisements for all recruitment exercises state that members of ethnic minorities are particularly encouraged to apply.