Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, 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.

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. Civil Service recruitment must follow the rules set out in legislation within the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 which outlines the requirements to ensure that civil servants are recruited on merit, via fair and open competition.

The Ministry of Defence is committed to reviewing and improving its recruitment model to ensure we are attracting a skilled and diverse workforce. This includes supporting central Going Forward into Employment (GFiE) pathways, which focus on recruitment from a wide range of backgrounds into the Civil Service, including people from low socio-economic backgrounds, prison leavers, Veterans, carers and care leavers. and. We are also committed to supporting schemes such as a Great Place to Work for Veterans and the cross-Government Summer Internship Programme.