Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 13 November 2017 to Question 111417, on Public Sector: Recruitment, which civil service roles were not identified as suitable for removal of the box under the ban the box initiative.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
As a default position, the Civil Service will ‘Ban the Box’ when it advertises job vacancies.
There are some business areas across the Civil Service where it will be inappropriate to apply Ban the Box. This will only occur where there is a clear, justifiable business need to understand a candidate’s conviction history at the application stage in the recruitment process. An exception is most likely to apply to roles that are particularly sensitive in nature, for example; work with children and vulnerable adults of positions connected to public safety. Permanent Secretaries are accountable for the exceptions process. The Cabinet Office do not hold a central record of which civil service roles were not identified as suitable for the Ban the Box initiative.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 13 November 2017 to Question 111417, on Public Sector: Recruitment. what criteria are used to assess whether a civil service role is suitable for removal of the box under the ban the box initiative.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
As a default position, the Civil Service will ‘Ban the Box’ when it advertises job vacancies.
There are some business areas across the Civil Service where it will be inappropriate to apply Ban the Box. This will only occur where there is a clear, justifiable business need to understand a candidate’s conviction history at the application stage in the recruitment process. An exception is most likely to apply to roles that are particularly sensitive in nature, for example; work with children and vulnerable adults of positions connected to public safety. Permanent Secretaries are accountable for the exceptions process. The Cabinet Office do not hold a central record of which civil service roles were not identified as suitable for the Ban the Box initiative.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which government departments have freephone numbers for public use.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
In October 2015 the Government published guidance on departments’ use of telephone prefixes and freephone numbers which can be found here:
Departments are responsible and accountable for their choice of number prefix, supported by an appropriate numbering policy position. Where appropriate, departments must justify exceptions to the guidance. Information regarding Departments’ use freephone numbers is not held centrally. Departments should be contacted directly regarding this.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government's annual migration figures include seasonal workers.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.