|PIC1|Scotland’s police officers will be asked to declare their religion when they undergo a national audit this year in response to claims that Catholics are being denied promotion to the upper echelons of the force.

The survey will also ask officers for information on sexuality and gender amid claims that minority groups are missing out on top positions in the upper levels of Scotland’s police force, reports The Scotsman.

The audit is being carried out in an attempt to ascertain the extent to which Scotland’s police officers represent the community they serve.

While members of the Catholic Church have previously called for measures to tackle alleged sectarianism within the police ranks, it is unclear to what extent religious discrimination exists within Scotland’s public bodies.

|TOP|Sectarianism recently came under the spotlight after Uefa cleared Rangers fans of sectarian chanting. The Scottish Executive meanwhile has pledged to root out what Scotland’s justice minister Cathy Jamieson dubbed “Scotland’s shame”.

A spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland welcomed the audit. "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."

Chief Superintendent George Denholm of Lothian and Border Police, who heads the project, expressed the hope that the audit would go some way to address the police force’s “huge image problem”.

|AD|“This is about finding out how recruits from different backgrounds are getting on in the police service. We want to sell ourselves to the public and employ the best people.

"There's a huge image problem. People's perception of who we are is totally different than they want the police service to be.

"Questions have been raised by the Catholic Church who say people serving in the police service are hitting a 'stained glass ceiling', stopping Catholic members of the police force being promoted. That there is some sort of Masonic conspiracy."

Denholm denied the existence of such a conspiracy but admitted that the police could be more representative. “I think we are doing particularly well but maybe there is a risk that problems will be exposed. However, I think we have far more to be proud of than to keep secret,” he said.

Recent surveys into Scotland’s police force found that only 1 per cent of officers are from a black or ethnic minority background, compared with about 2 per cent of the population.

Another recent survey found that women make up 20 per cent of the 10,000 constables in Scotland’s police force but only 9 per cent of the upper ranks.

Monsignor Joseph Creegan of the Dunkeld Diocese said that while he believed sectarianism was at one time rife in the police service, it is no longer such a problem today and that the audit was political correctness gone too far.

He said: "With the best will in the world, it's impossible to get an exact replica of society in any organisation. They should be getting the best person for the job. I think asking everyone if they are Church of Scotland or Roman Catholic is going too far."

Mr Denholm defended the audit, however. "If you don't measure things like gender, religion and sexual orientation, how do you know whether initiatives to promote more representation in the police service are working?" he said.