HL Deb 10 November 2003 vol 654 cc153-4WA
Lord Laird

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Given that Roman Catholics made up 8.0 per cent of the Royal Ulster Constabulary whereas women made up 12.6 per cent, why reverse religious discrimination is justified regarding the police in Northern Ireland, while reverse female discrimination is not. [HL4885]

Baroness Amos

The basis for the Government's policy on this is set out in the report of the Independent Commission on Policing.

Section 48(2) of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 allows the Policing Board to require the Chief Constable to prepare a draft plan for the monitoring of women in the police and, if they are under-represented, for increasing that number.

Of the 930 trainees recruited to PSNI since November 2001, 318 were women.

Lord Laird

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have seen the legal advice referred to in paragraph 15.11 of the Patten report on policing; who has possession of the advice (if they have not seen it); and whether they will seek to have it published. [HL4886]

Baroness Amos

The legal opinion referred to in paragraph 15.11 of its report was obtained by the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland as part of its deliberations about recruitment to the Police Service. The advice was not obtained on behalf of the Government; there are no plans to publish it. However, as part of the implementation of the Patten recommendations, the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 included provisions to ensure that the 50:50 recruitment procedures would not be in breach of the Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 or the Race Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1997.

Lord Laird

asked Her Majesty's Government:

In each of the six most recent competitions for recruitment to the police in Northern Ireland, how many recruits were sought initially; and how many were recruited. [HL4887]

Baroness Amos

The PSNI workforce strategy, as approved by the Policing Board on 3 October 2002, sets out the aim to appoint 540 trainees each year. It does not stipulate a breakdown of targets for individual competitions.

The first intake of PSNI recruits appointed on a 50:50 basis was on 4 November 2001. To date competitions one to four have produced a total 1,196 appointable candidates. The final appointments from this number are presently being made.

Appointments from competitions five and six will begin next year. Application numbers have been very encouraging.