asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will institute an inquiry into the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to produce a report which can be debated by Parliament.

The Government announced on 26th July last year [Official Report cols. 97–117] that it was reconvening the Working Party on Prosecution Arrangements to advise Ministers on the organisational and resource implications of an independent prosecution service. The working party is reviewing in that context the functions now assigned to the Director of Public Prosecutions, and considering what changes in the arrangements for discharging those functions any wider changes in the prosecution system might entail. The Government will announce their conclusions after Ministers have had an opportunity to consider the report of the working party, which hopes to complete its work by the summer.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether appointments to be chairman or deputy chairman of the Equal Opportunities Commission are reserved for women and, if not, were any male candidates considered in connection with the recent appointment of chairman.

Men are eligible for appointment to both these posts; and male candidates were included amongst those recently considered for the chairmanship of the commission.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What are the advantages and disadvantages and to whom, of information no longer being available on the number of women seeking part-time or full-time work on the grounds that they are ineligible for unemployed benefit.

The exclusion from the monthly count of male and female unemployed registrants who do not claim benefit was an unavoidable consequence of the introduction of voluntary registration on 18th October. However, special counts will be made in the summer of non-claimant school-leavers. More generally, estimates of unemployed people seeking work but not claiming benefit will be made, in a similar way that estimates of the unregistered unemployed have been in the past.