Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether their Department has run any (a) recruitment and (b) internship schemes aimed to increase the number of people from underrepresented groups in the workforce in the last year.

All Civil Service departments work within the Recruitment Principles, as regulated by the Civil Service Commission, to recruit using a fair and open process and appoint on merit.

As set out in the Civil Service People Plan 2024 - 2027, we are committed to ensuring we attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds, to create a modern Civil Service, now and for the future.

The Home Office have run Internship schemes aimed at increasing representation of underrepresented groups within the Home Office workforce in the last year:

• Summer Internship Programme (SIP): placements for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
• Autism Exchange Internship Programme (AEIP): internships for neurodivergent candidates.
• Care Leaver Internship Scheme: paid internships for care leavers.

The Home Office also support Government Employment Programs that utilse an exception within the Civil Service Recruitment Principles. This allows departments to appoint individuals temporarily for up to two years, providing fixed-term Civil Service roles for those whose circumstances and previous life chances make it difficult to compete for appointments on merit, and on the basis of fair and open competition, without further work experience and/or training opportunities. The programs the Home Office have employed over the last 12 months are:

• Pathway to Employment Social Mobility Programme: fixed term appointment of individuals from low socio-economic backgrounds.
• Pathway for Autistic People: fixed term appointment of individuals with autism.
• Civil Service Master Class: fixed term appointment of individuals from low socio-economic backgrounds.
• Stepping into Communications: an internship pathway for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds.