Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many civil servants in his Department have a criminal conviction.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Criminal record checks are made prior to appointment and we require individuals to inform the department of criminal convictions after appointment as set out in the staff handbook. The information is not collected centrally.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many civil servants in her Department have a criminal conviction.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
No civil servants at DCMS hold a criminal conviction.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many civil servants in his Department have a criminal conviction.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All employees of the Department are subject to appropriate levels of pre-employment checks and/or security clearance. As you will be aware, the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 allows certain eligible convictions or cautions to become “spent” after a specified period of time.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many civil servants in her Department have a criminal conviction.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero does not hold central records of criminal convictions. When joining the department all candidates undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check which checks for unspent criminal convictions. Where a candidate does have unspent criminal convictions, these are shared with the individual vacancy holder for them to consider as this is likely to have impact on individuals’ suitability for the role.
The Department engages with the cross-government Going Forward into Employment (GFIE) schemes, including for prison leavers. The number of civil servants in the department on this scheme is less than 10. Given this number is relatively low the exact number is not provided in order to protect the identity of those individuals.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many civil servants in her Department have a criminal conviction.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally by the Department. The Department undertakes Baseline Personnel Security Standard pre-employment checks for all new joiners. A minimal number of roles also require National Security Vetting clearance prior to joining. In the event of a declared criminal conviction, a risk assessment is completed on a case-by-case basis.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many civil servants in her Department have a criminal conviction.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology does not hold central records of criminal convictions. When joining the department all candidates undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check which checks for unspent criminal convictions. Where a candidate does have unspent criminal convictions, these are shared with the individual vacancy holder for them to consider as this is likely to have impact on individuals’ suitability for the role. The department is looking at how it can engage with the across government Going Forward into Employment (GFIE) schemes, including for prison leavers.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Shipley of 21 June 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We have received the hon. Member’s correspondence of 21 June 2023 and will respond shortly.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many civil servants in his Department have a criminal conviction.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many civil servants in her Department have a criminal conviction.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
DBT do not centrally hold data on employees with criminal convictions. This information will be captured and considered at application stage by the Government Recruitment Service through the BPSS checks. In line with wider Civil Service guidance, the Department does encourage applications from those with prior convictions via our recruitment campaigns on Civil Service Jobs. The department also supports the Going Forwards into Employment, Prison Leaver scheme which is an exception to the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many civil servants in her Department have a criminal conviction.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not collect or hold information on the criminal convictions of its civil servants.
The department does require that, prior to commencing employment, individuals have cleared the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). This includes a check for live convictions and is the minimum level of clearance for all people working across the Civil Service. These checks are also carried out for existing civil servants moving into the department.
If checks highlight convictions, the department will consider the appointment if a conviction relates to any of the following: life sentences, arson, sexual offences, hate and terror offences, the department will also consider the specific offence against the nature of the business, i.e., a conviction for fraud may rule you out for a finance role (the department also undertakes an internal fraud database check, which identifies civil servants who have been dismissed for committing internal fraud, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned).
The department is engaged in the ‘Civil Service Prison Leavers’ scheme but has not yet made any appointments. This scheme ensures that if an individual is a prison leaver, then having a criminal conviction is not a barrier to joining the Civil Service. The department only asks about criminal convictions once a job offer has been made and excepted and the BPSS checks completed.
The department expects its civil servants to abide by the Civil Service Code of Conduct and the departmental standards of behaviour. Employees must inform their manager if they are arrested, are charged and released, refused bail, or convicted of any criminal offence. If they fail to do so, the department will take disciplinary action for non-disclosure.