Departmental Staff (Ethnic Origin)

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will provide a breakdown, in numerical and percentage terms, of the ethnic origin, at 1 March, of (a) his private office, (b) Government special advisers, (c) his Policy Unit and (d) staff in total. [78512]

Information about the ethnic origin of civil servants is collected in Government Departments through voluntary, confidential questionnaires.

(a)As at 1 March there were 7 staff of ethnic minority origin in the Department's Private Office. This represents 24 per cent. of staff in the Department's private office.

(b)My answer to the question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Brent, East (Mr. Livingstone), 22 February 1999, Official Report, column 39, refers to this matter.

(c)I do not have a policy unit.

(d)Civil Service personnel statistics are collated and published annually for staff in post at 1 April by the Cabinet Office. Information for staff in total for 1 April 1998 is the latest available and is given in the table.

Number and percentage of ethnic minority staff in post at 1 April 1998

Department	Ethnic minority staff	% of staff with known ethnic origin
Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service	40	7.3
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food	398	5.4
Cabinet Office	98	7.2
Charity Commission	71	12.8
Crown Prosecution Service	410	8.3
Culture, Media and Sport	33	9.9
Customs and Excise	1,485	6.8
Defence	1,312	2.0
Education and Employment	2,254	10.8
Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED)	18	10.1
Environment, Transport and the Regions	857	7.0
Export Credits Guarantee Department	49	16.7
Foreign and Commonwealth Office	191	4.4
Friendly Societies, Registry of	36	26.9
Government Actuary	¹—	8.7
Health	595	13.7
Health and Safety Executive	178	5.0
HM Prison Service	1,095	3.2
Home Office	1,138	12.4
Information, Central Office of	25	9.3
Inland Revenue	3,278	6.0
International Development	68	8.7
Intervention Board	67	8.0
Land Registry	384	4.9
Legal Secretariat	¹ —	25.0
Lord Chancellor's Department	933	9.5
National Investment and Loans Office	5	18.5
National Savings	26	0.6
National Statistics, Office for	168	5.7
Northern Ireland Office	18	20.9
Office of Electricity Regulation	26	11.4
Office of Fair Trading	66	25.0
Office of Gas Supply	14	13.9
Office of the National Lottery	¹—	16.0
Office of the Rail Regulator	9	7.4
Ordnance Survey	20	1.3
Public Records Office	11	12.1
Royal Mint	¹—	1.1
Scottish Office	14	0.4
Other Scottish Departments	18	0.4
Security and Intelligence Services	14	0.3
Serious Fraud Office	32	21.1
Social Security	5,107	6.5
Trade and Industry	880	11.9
Treasury	103	13.1
Treasury Solicitors Department	45	15.0
Welsh Office (including OHCMI)	14	0.7
Total	21,615	5.7
¹ less than 5 staff

Notes:

1. Number of non-industrial staff who responded to departmental surveys on ethnic origin

Source:

Cabinet Office: Mandate and Departmental returns

Volume 328: debated on Wednesday 31 March 1999