asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he intends to replace the five members of the Commission for Racial Equality whose contracts have not been renewed; and if he will make a statement on his policy towards the direct representation of the black community on the commission.

Yes. Members of the commission are appointed in an individual capacity and not as representatives, but we would wish to ensure that the commission has members from the main ethnic minority communities.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department which ethnic groups are represented on the Commission for Racial Equality.

Members of the commission are not appointed as representatives of particular ethnic minority communities but the commission has at present three members of West Indian origin, a Punjabi, an Asian from Kenya, a member from Bangladesh and one from Pakistan.