To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many women from ethnic minorities are employed by his Department and its agencies; at what grade; and what measures he has taken to encourage the (a) recruitment, (b) employment and (c) promotion of women from ethnic minorities within his Department and its agencies. [39898]

Our records, based on voluntary declaration, show that this Department and its agencies employ the following numbers of ethnic minority women:

higher executive officer and above: 8

Executive officer: 19

Administrative officer: 95

Administrative assistant: 27.

We are committed to encouraging the career development of all staff, irrespective of gender or ethnic origin. We have comprehensive programmes in place to ensure equality of access to recruitment, training, career development and promotion for all staff. We monitor all our procedures to ensure implementation.We actively encourage ethnic minority applicants through our recruitment literature and campaigns and work closely with the Windsor Fellowship. We are also active members of Opportunity 2000.