Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of assurance mechanisms operated by government bodies on the employment practices of contracted-out staff.

Where civil servants are working for a non civil service organisation, this is done under a secondment agreement and not as contracting out.

In such situations, a secondment agreement is normally put in place between the two organisations setting out the responsibilities of both towards the secondee during the period of the secondment. Through this, the employing department is able to satisfy itself that the host organisation is aware of and able to discharge the relevant employment responsibilities.

As set out in section 10.3 of the Civil Service Management Code, civil servants who are on secondment remain subject to their normal terms and conditions, including in relation to conduct, discipline and disclosure of information. Where a secondee has any concerns about the practices in the host organisation, they can raise that with their employing department, who is able to take action and, if necessary, end the secondment.