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Advancement Of Women

Volume 87: debated on Friday 29 November 1985

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asked the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will establish a special office within his Department to monitor periodically and accelerate the progress towards equitable representation of women along the lines of paragraph 88 of the conclusions of the Nairobi conference on forward-looking strategies for the advancement of women;

(2) if he has any plans for implementing paragraph 58 of the conclusions of the Nairobi conference on forward-looking strategies for the advancement of women, relating to the collection of statistics on the situation of women;

(3) if he has had any meetings with the Equal Opportunities Commission to discuss the implementation of those parts of the conclusions of the Nairobi conference on forward-looking strategies for the advancement of women relevant to his Department; and if he has any future plans for such meetings;

(4) what steps he is taking to evaluate the progress in implementing those parts of the conclusions of the United Nations Nairobi conference on forward-looking strategies for the advancement of women which apply to his Department; what resources he has allocated to this; and if he will make a statement.

My Department is already reviewing its policies and procedures to ensure equality of opportunity for women in the Department. A joint committee of management and trade unions was set up in 1984 to consider such matters as recruitment, promotion, training and flexible working patterns; its work continues. Equal opportunity officers have already been appointed to oversee progress in this area. My Department is also participating in further servicewide work on this subject including the creation of the necessary data base.As to equal opportunities in the transport field generally, my Department is studying the text of the Nairobi forward-looking strategies for the advancement of women and will be considering with other Government Departments and the Equal Opportunities Commission how best to take its conclusions forward.