Found: Ministers and the Treasury, to flex that to make sure we are able to match the market where other big public

Found: public sector over the initial four-year target period, with apprenticeships now firmly ingrained in public

Found: fihugely competitive environmentfl, where public services struggle to fill vacancies, we heard that public

Found: To recruit more individuals from these groups, public sector recruitment practices should be made more

Found: effectively in the face of competition in the private sector, which can move in a much more agile fashion.A public

Found: The UA have also proposed a Public Sector Recruitment Accelerator programme, comprising bursaries for

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether there are controls on external recruitment of (a) new and (b) replacement (i) civil servants and (ii) other public sector administrators.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

There are specific statutory provisions in place that control all appointments to new and replacement Civil Service roles arising from external recruitment.

The Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 requires that selection to the Civil Service must be on merit, on the basis of fair and open competition. The Civil Service Commission has a statutory duty to ensure that the merit requirement is upheld and is not being undermined. The Commission’s interpretation of this statutory requirement is outlined to Civil Service departments in the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles 2018.

The Aliens’ Employment Act 1955 outlines the eligibility for employment in the Civil Service on the grounds of nationality. The Cabinet Office has published the Civil Service Nationality Rules on Gov.uk to support departments in the interpretation of this statutory requirement.

The Civil Service Management Code delegates authority to individual departments to determine their recruitment approach within the scope of these statutory requirements. Additional policy provisions can be applied such as the Civil Service Recruitment Framework. Since January 2016, the Framework has been committed to opening up all Senior Civil Service (SCS) vacancies by advertising them externally to the public by default. In May 2022, this commitment was strengthened, requiring departments to obtain approval from the responsible minister when seeking to limit an SCS vacancy to existing civil servants only.

For other public administrators outside of the Civil Service, it would be down to their respective organisations to comment on whether they have such controls in place.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has contracted work to a business named in round 18 of the National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme within the last three years.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

All employers need to pay their staff correctly. Paying the minimum wage is not optional, it’s the law. Under the National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme, employers who have previously broken minimum wage law can be publicly named. The Department for Business and Trade follows a clear and thorough process allowing firms to make representations against being named if they meet our published criteria.

The MOJ entered into contracts, during the last 3 years, with 2 companies listed in round 18 of the National Wage Naming Scheme, though only 1 was made after publication of the list and Calor Gas had already taken steps to rectify the issue. The details are:

- Calor Gas, contract for the supply of LPG across the MOJ estate from June 2022 to May 2024 following a competition via the relevant Crown Commercial Services Framework. https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/134be1dc-a93f-4fc0-8159-c39aae7a3c2f?origin=SearchResults&p=1

- Centre Circle Event Management Ltd, contract for prison education support at HMP Rochester. This was awarded prior to publication (Jan 21) and has now expired (Feb 22). https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/8ba63863-9e53-4f4d-8553-fcc32a38ea58?origin=SearchResults&p=1

Additionally, Hays joined the Crown Commercial Service Public Sector Recruitment (PSR) framework (Call Off Contract from Public Sector Resourcing (PSR) - Contracts Finder) in 2019, before publication of round 18 of the National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme.

For our current suppliers (Calor Gas and Hays) we are working with Crown Commercial Services to ensure that these suppliers are fully compliant and have fully complied with the terms of their framework.

Found: HMT said that public sector recruitment trends were generally positive, as leaver rates dropped and

Found: Public sector recruitment also makes up a greater share of the market now (up 1.3 percentage points

Found: HMT said that public sector recruitment trends were generally positive, as leaver rates dropped and

Found: negatively affected the quality of applicants. 48 "There is no doubt at all that the sort of the public

Found: They also noted ongoing public sector recruitment and retention challenges.

Found: Public sector recruitment freezes might also have been a factor here.