To ask the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many ethnic minorities there are in each grade in his Department. [131739]
The number of staff of minority ethnic origin by responsibility level is set out in the table below.
Ethnic Origin of Permanent Staff in the Department for Constitutional Affairs (including the Court Service and the Public Guardianship Office) by Responsibility Level as at 31 August 2003
| |||||
Grade equivalent
| Ethnic minority staff
| White staff
| Not known
| Total
| Ethnic minority as percentage of known ethnic origin
|
| AA/AO | 660 | 4,326 | 2,442 | 7,429 | 13.2 |
| EO | 333 | 1,763 | 789 | 2,885 | 15.9 |
| HEO/SEO | 131 | 1,193 | 459 | 1,783 | 9.9 |
| Grade 6/7 | 26 | 364 | 179 | 569 | 6.7 |
| SCS | 0 | 81 | 36 | 117 | 0 |
| Total | 1,150 | 7,727 | 3,906 | 12,783 | 13 |
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) what research he has undertaken to assess the implications of the ending of the free legal advice and representation service to ethnic minorities; and if he will make a statement; [128328](2) what factors underlay the decision to end the free legal advice and representation service to ethnic minorities; what the benefits are of the changes he is proposing; and if he will make a statement.[128329]
I have assumed that the hon. Member is referring to the effect on the services currently provided to ethnic minority clients by the Immigration Advisory Service (IAS), following the proposed transfer of funding from the Home Office to the Legal Services Commission.
| Closing arrears totals1 | ||||
| £ | ||||
| Courthouse/area | 1999–20002 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 |
| Gateshead | n/a | n/a | 461,028.08 | 439,039.30 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 563,330.36 | 589,787.61 | 979,945.41 | 967,089.08 |
| North Tyneside | 366,322.00 | 454,551.00 | 613.469.00 | 587,985.00 |
| Sunderland | n/a | 502,039.19 | 600,256.41 | 607,341.86 |
| South Tyneside | 169,930.30 | 181,144.84 | 270,283.70 | 358,126.63 |
| Northumbria MCC3 | 2,008,365 | 2,763,505 | 3,201,597 | 3,157,655 |
| England and Wales | 227,361,076 | 225,908,941 | 246,481,521 | 276,870,306 |
| 1The amount of the 'closing balance owed' that is in arrears. | ||||
| 2Current information collection commenced in 1999–2000 and data is not available prior to that year. | ||||
| 3To note: this data is incomplete, it does not include information on Houghton Le Spring. | ||||