TBL Staff

SCOTLAND'S 15,000 police officers will be asked to declare their religion as part of a national audit amid claims that Catholics are being denied promotion by a "stained glass ceiling".

The survey also seeks information on sexuality and gender, after concern that minority groups are grossly under-represented in the upper echelons of the police service.

Members of the Catholic Church have previously called for the move to tackle alleged sectarianism within the police's ranks. The audit has been launched to establish how accurately the police service is representing the communities they serve.

The Executive has pledged to stamp out sectarianism, dubbed "Scotland's shame" by the justice minister, Cathy Jamieson. But despite this, little is known about the extent to which religious discrimination exists within public bodies.

A spokesman for the Catholic Church last night welcomed the move. "At the moment we don't know whether there is a problem within the police service. This will bring some much-needed transparency," he said.

A Church source added: "I'm aware of anecdotal evidence that a 'stained glass ceiling' exists in the police service. I know Catholics in the police who have not been able to get beyond the rank of sergeant because they were Catholic, and were not Masons."