HL Deb 29 June 2004 vol 663 cc13-4WA
Lord Laird

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the annual cost of the equality officer posts in the Northern Ireland Office. [HL3265]

Baroness Amos:

The Northern Ireland Office has no nominated equality officer. Work on the statutory equality duty under Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 is mainstreamed into the day-to-day work of the department.

Equality forms only part of the work of the staff in that unit and it is not possible to accurately disaggregate it from their other duties. Only an approximate cost can therefore be provided, which we have calculated, per grade, at around:

Senior Civil Service—£1,490

Grade 7—£7,642

Grade B2—£14,638

Grade C—£10,976

Lord Laird

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will state the gender, age, ethnic origins and community background of the equality officers employed in the Northern Ireland Office and the part of Northern Ireland (if any) with which they regard themselves as being most closely associated. [HL3266]

Baroness Amos:

In line with Part 11 Paragraph 12 (Privacy of an individual) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information it would be inappropriate to disclose this information.