Civil Servants: Recruitment

(asked on 16th June 2022) - View Source

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to make the civil service recruitment process more dyslexia-friendly.


Answered by
Heather Wheeler Portrait
Heather Wheeler
This question was answered on 21st June 2022

As set out in the Declaration on Government Reform and the recent Civil Service Diversity Strategy, the civil service is committed to setting a new standard for inclusive workplaces. The Cabinet Office values the importance of ensuring our workplaces are inclusive for colleagues with dyslexia and we engage with relevant Networks where appropriate.

We engage with Civil Service Dyslexia and Dyspraxia Network, via the Civil Service Disability Network and with other cross-Government Diversity Networks to update on key initiatives and share best practice. The network also features on the Diversity Networks webpage on GOV.UK and the Chairs are able to collaborate with other networks using our Diversity and Inclusion hub.

Across the civil service we provide support via a range of individualised workplace adjustments to remove workplace barriers to enable dyslexic colleagues to thrive at work. Our Civil Service Dyslexia and Dyspraxia Network is a great support to improving the working environment for Civil Servants impacted by dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia across civil service departments. The development of the Toolkit has been widely shared with colleagues in Diversity and Inclusion.

Our recruitment processes are reviewed regularly to ensure they remain as inclusive as they can be, with involvement from occupational psychologists to ensure they meet the requirements of as many people with disabilities as we reasonably can.

An equality analysis was carried out in 2016 to demonstrate due and proper regard to our equality obligations. We used the analysis to assess the impact the introduction of online tests in recruitment was likely to have. This included reviews of the literature and involved a range of stakeholder and user consultations. External neurodiversity experts are also providing ongoing independent advice to GRS about how to improve the inclusive experience of neurodiverse test takers.The Civil Service publishes written and video guidance on the alternatives that exist for disabled test takers through the reasonable adjustment process.

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