Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 25851 on Intelligence Services: Unpaid Work, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the eligibility criteria for the 2025 M15 and SIS internship schemes; and if he will request the Security Services make internship opportunities available to people from white British backgrounds.

In recent years, UK Intelligence Community (UKIC) has run a number of internships and placement schemes. They are designed to provide insight about what it is like to work in UKIC to individuals who have particular skills and expertise, want to work in a particular area and/or are from demographics and backgrounds under-represented across Government.

Any internship participant wishing to subsequently apply for employment with UKIC or the Civil Service is required to take part in a fair and open competition, in the normal way, with selection based on merit.