asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will now appoint a departmental equal opportunities officer with responsibility for co-ordinating the Civil service policy of non-discrimination within his Department.

Equal opportunities officers, with responsibility for advising on the full scope of equal opportunity matters as they concern race and sex discrimination, were appointed in the FCO in 1984. There are three such officers: one for the diplomatic wing, one for the Overseas Development Administration and one for staff administered from Hanslope park.