Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what the average time taken has been to date to fill vacancies for (a) Administrative Assistant/Administrative Officer, (b) Executive Officer, (c) Senior Executive Officer/Higher Executive Officer, (d) Grades 6 and 7 civil servants and (e) Senior Civil Service grade positions in his Department.
Answered by Steve Baker
The Department of Exiting the European Union continues to recruit the brightest and the best talent from across the civil service, the wider public sector and the private sector.
The Government Recruitment Service (GRS) runs a number of our recruitment campaigns. Based on the data provided by GRS the average length of time taken to fill vacancies since the Department was set up in 2016 is as follows -
a. Administrative Assistant/Administrative Officer - local campaigns - non GRS
b. Executive Officer - local campaigns - non GRS
c. Senior Executive Officer/Higher Executive Officer - 49 days
d. Grades 6 & 7 - 47 days
e. Senior Civil Service grade positions - 29 days
The figures for (c) and (d) are predominately based on large campaigns which are usually run over a period of time and can therefore increase the overall average length of time of some campaigns compared to other government departments which use the central government recruitment system for all campaigns.
The Department manages all other recruitment campaigns across all grades locally and does not collect the data electronically through local campaigns, so is unable to calculate the time taken to fill vacancies without a disproportionate cost being incurred by the Department.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what representations he has made to the European Commission on UK participation in the European Defence Industrial Development programme.
Answered by Robin Walker
As outlined in the Government future partnership paper on foreign policy, defence and development, we are open to considering options and models for participation in the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP) after we have left the EU. Any decisions on the terms of UK participation in the EDIDP will form part of our wider negotiations.
We have argued strongly during the current negotiations of the EDIDP draft regulation that it should be open to third country industrial participation, and that it complements other cooperative programmes, including those developed through NATO. The General Affairs Council endorsed its general approach to the draft regulation on 12 December 2017.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what discussions officials from his Department have had with (a) the Department for International Trade and (b) the Ministry of Defence on (i) access to and (ii) influence in collaborative defence and security programmes run by the EU.
Answered by David Jones
The Prime Minister is clear that we will continue to work with our European partners on defence and security policy. European leaders have welcomed this commitment. This is the right approach: working closely on defence and security with our closest geographical partners makes our citizens safer. The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union has regular discussions with Ministerial colleagues on this issue.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many staff in his Department are currently on loan from the Ministry of Defence.
Answered by David Jones
The Department for Exiting the European Union now has over 250 staff plus the expertise of over 120 officials in Brussels, and we are still growing rapidly. We are not in a position to give a final total as recruitment is ongoing.