Written question asked by Rob Marris (Labour) on Monday, 28 March 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 6 April 2005. It was answered by David Miliband (Labour) on Wednesday, 6 April 2005 on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

Cabinet Office

Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he has taken in the last four years to increase the number of applications received from members of the British Sikh community for public appointments to (a) local and (b) national decision-making bodies; what assessment he has made of progress since June 2001 in increasing the number of public appointments to (a) local and (b) national decison-making bodies of members of the British Sikh community; and what estimate he has made of the number of such appointments since that date.

Answer: Rob Marris: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) what steps he has taken in the last four years to increase the number of applications received from members of the British Sikh community for public appointments to (a) local and (b) national decision- making bodies; [224494] (2) what assessment he has made of progress since June 2001 in increasing the number of public appointments to (a) local and (b) national decision- making bodies of members of the British Sikh community; and what estimate he has made of the number of such appointments since that date. [224496] Mr. Miliband: The Government remain committed to encouraging applications for public appointments from all sections of society. Data are not collected centrally on applications and appointments from more specific groups, but the Cabinet Office does monitor progress on the Government's broader targets to ensure that the make-up of the boards of public bodies is representative in terms of gender, ethnicity and disabled people. The latest report, "Delivering Diversity in Public Appointments 2004", published on 16 December 2004 shows that the proportion of public appointments held by people from a minority ethnic background was 7.7 per cent. in 2004, up from 7.4 per cent. in 2002. The report also sets out targets set by individual Departments and action plans to achieve those targets.

Secondary information