§ David WinnickTo ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission how many full-time appointments there have been to the Clerk's Department in the last five years; and how many were(a) female and (b) of an ethnic minority. [160417]
§ Sir Archy KirkwoodThere have been 155 full-time appointments to the Clerk's Department in the five year period up to 10 March 2004, of whom 86 were female (55.5 per cent.). 13 of the 155 have since left the Clerk's Department (six of whom were female). Of the 142 appointees still employed, 80 are female (56.3 per cent.).
House of Commons staff are currently in the process of completing and returning revised ethnicity survey questionnaires. Of the 142 current staff who started within the last five years, approximately half have so far returned their questionnaires. Of these, 5.3 per cent. are from an ethnic minority background. If this proportion holds good for all the staff in this group, approximately eight of them will be from an ethnic minority background.