Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he has taken to increase representation of people from ethnic minority backgrounds on the boards of FTSE 250 companies.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has recently asked Trevor Phillips to start a new private sector led campaign which will look to address the lack of ethnic diversity in boardrooms, based in part on research that indicates the proportion of Black & Ethnic Minority people in leadership positions is lower than expected compared to the wider population (estimated at 5.1% and 14% respectively).