Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the remarks made on 12 January by Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser, that the Civil Service needs to recruit more science and engineering graduates.

The government plans to build on the successful reforms of the Civil Service since 2010, going further and faster to ensure that it has the right skills. In particular this means attracting more people with quantitative and data analytics skills - which are developed through training in science and engineering.

Demand for science and engineering graduates is increasing - with Fast Stream bids for this specialism having doubled this year.

Those with science-related degrees make up an increasing proportion of those entering the Fast Stream. Candidates with science-related degrees (where known) made up 19.7% of entrants in 2018 compared with 17.4% in 2017.