Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many meetings she has had on increasing the number of women receiving public appointments since May 2015.

Caroline Dinenage

I am working closely with the Cabinet Office to modernise recruitment practices and attract a more diverse field of candidates from an ever-wider range of social and professional backgrounds.

This includes engaging with government departments, the private sector and a range of different diversity networks and groups. We have engaged with them through online advertising, social media and at events to promote and raise awareness of public appointments and better understand the barriers or concerns for those considering a public appointment.

The most recent figures published show that we are making real, consistent, progress in increasing the number of public appointments going to women. Last financial year 44% of new appointments were made to women.