the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make the gathering of information on ethnic origins compulsory, and publish the percentage of entrants to his Department who failed to respond to the ethnic origins questionnaire.

There are no plans at present to change from the voluntary self-classification system of gathering ethnic origin information about Civil Service staff. I would refer the hon. Lady to the reply my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister gave her today on this point. Of 1,739 new entrants to the Department since October 1985, 850 (49 per cent.) have not yet responded to the questionnaire.