Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
What the Government's policy is on support for the Ban the Box initiative.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Government is supportive of all employers adopting the Ban the Box initiative. The Civil Service is leading by example and adopted the initiative in 2016 to provide fairer opportunities for ex-offenders to compete for jobs.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress the Government has made on the roll-out the ban the box initiative throughout the public sector.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Civil Service chose to adopt the Ban the Box initiative in February 2016. The Cabinet Office does not hold information on the number of public sector organisations that have adopted the Ban the Box policy.
I also refer the honourable member to the response given by Dr Phillip Lee on behalf of the Ministry of Justice on the 13th November 2017 (Ref: 111417).
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, by when he plans fully to implement the Ban the Box initiative across Government.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The government is committed to improving diversity of opportunity and creating an inclusive working environment that attracts the best talent and makes the most of the potential skills and productivity of ex-offenders. All departments operate in line with the principles of the ‘Ban the Box’ campaign. This initiative has been implemented by all the central Civil Service departments and we expect all Civil Service organisations across the Civil Service to comply with this policy.