§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (Baroness Ashton of Upholland)The judicial appointments annual report, covering the period 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004, is published tomorrow, 29 October. This year the report focuses on developments and achievements within the judicial appointments process and the work undertaken ahead of the new Judicial Appointments Commission. We have taken the opportunity to avoid duplication of data by placing the statistical tables and their supporting narrative on the departmental website at (www.dca.gov.uk). The report also shows that:
- 480 appointments were made in 2003–04 from around 3,000 applications.
- Appointments, including lay appointments, of minority ethnic candidates rose by 6 per cent from 8.9 per cent in 2002–03 to 14.8 per cent and are at more than triple the 1999–2000 figure.
- Women accounted for 32.92 per cent of appointments, a slight increase on last year's figures.
- The success of the early assessment centre pilots has led to all deputy district judge competitions being conducted by assessment centres and the planned introduction of similar centres for recorder and employment tribunal competitions.
Copies of the report will be placed in both Libraries. The report is also available on the Internet.