Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, further to the answer by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office of 29 October 2025, to Question 83801, on Peers and Members: Social Class, and to the answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent of 5 February 2026, to Question HL13977, on Civil Service: Unpaid Work, how should the children of peers self-certify their social class if they apply to the Civil Service Internship Scheme in the absence of a classification by the Office for National Statistics.

All candidates are required to complete the questions set by ONS for determining socio-economic background based on their individual circumstances. For parental occupation this is at the age the candidate was 14. This allows the Civil Service to make a determination on their eligibility based on their answers. This is the same approach as was used for Fast Stream Internships under the previous administration.