To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security 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. [39904]
The Department employs 3,179 ethnic minority women. Eight of these are in grades 3 to 7, 552 are in middle management grades and 2,620 are in clerical or other grades.The Department and its agencies follow the Cabinet Office guidance and civil service recruitment policies and procedures which incorporate best recruitment practices. This includes placing advertisements in the ethnic minority press and with local racial equality councils. The adverts routinely incorporate a welcoming statement to minority groups including ethnic minorities.Where there are significant ethnic minority populations in the catchment areas, outreach work has been undertaken. Recruitment exercises are monitored to ensure equal treatment for all applicants and recruitment panellists have received equal opportunities awareness training.
| Changes in real income by decile group 1979 to 1992–93 including the self-employed | ||||||
| (a) Unadjusted | ||||||
| Before housing costs | ||||||
| Decile group medians | Total population (mean) | |||||
| Decile 1 bottom 10 per cent. | Decile 2 10–20 per cent. | Decile 3 20–30 per cent. | Decile 4 30–40 per cent. | Decile 5 40–50 per cent. | ||
| 1979 | 89 | 112 | 130 | 149 | 167 | 193 |
| 1992–93 | 90 | 120 | 146 | 172 | 203 | 261 |
| Percentage change | (1) | (7) | 12 | 16 | 22 | 35 |
| After housing costs | ||||||
| Decile group medians | Total population (mean) | |||||
| Decile 1 bottom 10 per cent. | Decile 2 10–20 per cent. | Decile 3 20–30 per cent. | Decile 4 30–40 per cent. | Decile 5 40–50 per cent. | ||
| 1978 | 75 | 96 | 1ll | 128 | 144 | 167 |
| 1992–93 | 61 | 95 | 117 | 145 | 176 | 227 |
| Percentage change | (-19) | (0) | (5) | 13 | 23 | 36 |
The Department and its agencies monitor by gender, disability and ethnicity all its personnel policies, practices and procedures to ensure that they are free of bias and prejudice. They are committed to following the policies in the Cabinet Office programme for action on race and have actively supported research commissioned by the Cabinet Office into the potential double disadvantage faced by ethnic minority women in the civil service.
Staff are encouraged to attend appropriate development training, giving them the opportunity to develop skills that will better prepare them for promotion opportunities. Also available are positive action training courses for women, ethnic minorities and staff with disabilities.
Each step in the promotion process is subjected to equal opportunities monitoring. All promotion board panellists have received appropriate equal opportunities, to ensure staff are promoted on merit.