asked the Minister for the Civil Service what are his latest plans concerning the implementation of equal opportunity policy in the Civil Service.

I hope that in the autumn a programme of action on employment opportunities for women in the Civil Service will be announced and that a report on personnel policies and procedures, as they affect equal opportunities for members of ethnic minorities, will also be published.

Does that proposal include the required ethnic and sex monitoring as laid down by the new code of the Commission for Racial Equality and the draft revised code of the Equal Opportunities Commission? If not, why not?

I understand that the operative date of the code produced by the Commission for Racial Equality is 1 April next year. Guidance on how to operate under it will be issued to Departments. The hon. and learned Gentleman knows that there has been some experimentation on ethnic monitoring in the Civil Service. That has been shown to be effective, and it is being extended.

Does my hon. Friend agree that sometimes the statements of the Commission for Racial Equality and of the Equal Opportunities Commission pointing to ghosts that do not exist tend to cause more trouble than good?

It would be a brave man who, from the Dispatch Box—

Be brave then.

—was prepared to defend every statement made by such quangos. I am not that brave.

Does the Minister agree that treatment of maternity leave is central to equal career opportunities for women in the Civil Service? Does he recall that his Department rejected any improvement in such provision a matter of days before a joint report on the subject was published in December? When can we expect the Government's response to that report, which has been on the table for eight months?

The right hon. Gentleman's recollection of the Government's statement when the review body's report was published is wrong. He has been misled by press reports at the time. As I said, the Government's response will be announced in the autumn.