Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) male and (b) female former civil servants have applied for reinstatement after taking time off for caring responsibilities in the last five years.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The information requested is not held by the Government Recruitment Service (GRS). Reinstatements are managed by each individual Department who will hold their own data rather than centrally by GRS.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the (a) average and (b) longest time between application and a start date for recruiting a civil servant was in the last three years; and whether he is taking steps to reduce those times.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Civil Service recruitment must follow the rules set out in legislation within the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRaGA) 2010 which outlines the requirements to ensure that Civil Servants are recruited on merit, via fair and open competition. The Civil Service must also ensure that detailed pre-employment checks (such as appropriate levels of security clearance) are carried out before employment can begin.
Information on the average time to hire across departments can be found in the recent National Audit Office report published on ‘Civil service workforce: Recruitment, pay and performance management', found here: https://www.nao.org.uk/reports/civil-service-workforce/
As set out in the Civil Service People Plan published on 10 January 2024, we are committed to ensuring we attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds, to create a brilliant Civil Service now, and for the future.
We must modernise the ways we recruit, speed up and simplify the process and improve the candidate experience without compromising on quality or fairness. We must also continue to expand the use of secondments and other direct entry routes (including the Fast Stream and apprenticeships), ensuring they are properly embedded in the skills and resourcing strategies of all departments and professions.
The Cabinet Office is introducing a set of consistent and comparable Civil Service recruitment measures and benchmarks which will be implemented across the Whitehall 17 departments. This will give greater transparency of metrics across the recruitment cycle.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff were employed on RAF recruitment in each year since 2010.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Royal Air Force (RAF) Recruiting and Selection, headquartered at RAF College Cranwell with Recruitment Offices located across the UK, employed the following RAF Regular and Reserve personnel and Ministry of Defence (MOD) Civil Servants as detailed in the tables below:
Year | RAF Regular and Reserve Personnel as at 1 January |
2024 | 289 |
2023 | 279 |
2022 | 362 |
2021 | 368 |
2020 | 352 |
2019 | 358 |
2018 | 358 |
2017 | 327 |
2016 | 322 |
2015 | 319 |
2014 | 279 |
2013 | 255 |
2012 | 252 |
2011 | 272 |
2010 | 328 |
Year | Civil Servants as at 31 December |
2023 | 55 |
2022 | 53 |
2021 | 64 |
2020 | 77 |
2019 | 77 |
2018 | 78 |
2017 | 76 |
2016 | 74 |
2015 | 68 |
2014 | 77 |
2013 | 84 |
2012 | 80 |
2011 | 99 |
2010 | 111 |
2009 | 112 |
Please note data for Civil Servants has been provided by Defence Business Services, data prior to 31 December 2017 may not accurately reflect the number of MOD Civil Servants working in RAF Recruiting & Selection due to an alternative method of allocating budget codes.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help support disabled employees in his Department.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Asked by: Steven Bonnar (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of SCS2 civil servants on full-time equivalent contracts in her Department are women.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In 2022/23 more than half of new entrants to the Civil Service were women (54.1%). In 2021/22 51.6% of new entrants and 53.9% of promotions to the Senior Civil Service were women.
The proportion of Senior Civil Servants graded as SCS 2 in the department as of 30 September 2023, excluding arm’s length bodies, is 50%. The proportion was calculated by the number of female staff at Payband 2 (Director) and working full-time divided by the total number of staff at the department at Payband 2 (where sex is known).
Monitoring of annual diversity statistics and recruitment data takes place to understand and evaluate progress in improving recruitment outcomes for protected characteristics.
During recruitment, the department uses the Civil Service Success Profiles methodology which assesses candidates across several elements, allowing candidates to demonstrate their skills and experience. Some roles, given their nature, do still require a formal qualification. Sifting is anonymised and we use recruitment panels, to mitigate against bias.
The department supports the Care Leaver programme as part of our career entry offer. This programme brings in young people who have been in Care and helps them gain experience of work, with a view to securing employment.
There are a range of cross-Government leadership development opportunities available for women in the department, including but not limited to conferences, talent pipeline schemes and talent programmes. Participation in these development opportunities is actively encouraged throughout the department.
The department also supports diverse working patterns and work life balance through a range of HR policies, including but not limited to policies on flexible working, special leave, parental leave, menopause and menstruation, pregnancy loss, and parental bereavement.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what percentage of civil servants in his Department on temporary contracts are women as of 18 October 2023.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP Paid Staff Only September 2023 data.
There was a total of 345 Temporary contracts of those 48% were women.
The department is committed to increase the diversity of our workforce. Recruitment guidance encourages vacancy holders to advertise widely and all DWP’s vacancies are advertised on VERCIDA an inclusive jobs platform, that specifically promotes our diversity networks activities, inclusive culture and employer awards. These are also promoted our Civil Service Careers Website page.
DWP uses a name-blind approach at application and sift stage as standard including at SCS level where feasible. Guidance encourages the use gender-neutral language and online tools to check readability and inclusive language in job adverts and other recruitment materials. In SCS recruitment the department takes proactive steps to improve the diversity of candidates progressed to interview including readvertising on occasion to increase the diversity and gender balance of shortlists.
Our recruitment guidance is clear that restricted working patterns can only be advertised when supported by justifiable business objectives. For some roles we run engagement sessions where candidates can ask questions about working patterns and flexibility at the earliest stages. DWP is also a Career Confident Ambassador and has achieved level 3, the highest level of accreditation.
Roles are designed against the full range of Success Profiles. As such all elements are valued equally, and candidates can succeed in our recruitment and selection processes in the absence of formal qualifications.
DWP workforce diversity statistics are monitored and published internally each quarter. Annual Diversity statistics are monitored and published in the Department for Work and Pensions Annual report and Accounts.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department is taking steps to recruit employees from the private sector into the civil service.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
I announced at a speech in June at Policy Exchange a series of measures to make the Civil Service more attractive to external candidates. This included when recruiting for senior roles in the Civil Service the default position is that all recruitment must operate externally by default. This means vacancies at this level must be advertised both to applicants internal and external to the Civil Service on openly available websites to allow for all those interested in the role, including in the private sector, to apply. I announced that roles will be advertised on a broader range of openly available job boards with simplified job advertisements.
Asked by: Ben Wallace (Conservative - Wyre and Preston North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many FTE civil servants have been employed by his Department in each year since 2015.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
Please see the Government Annual Civil Service Statistics published online to show how many FTE civil servants have been employed by the Cabinet Office.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics
From 2015 to present day the Cabinet Office has grown to absorb a number of other functions. For example, the whole of the Civil Service Fast Stream headcount now sits in the Cabinet Office although the large majority do not work in the Cabinet Office. The establishment of a Government Digital Service, Government Recruitment Service and functional specialities like the Government Commercial Function have all resulted in an increase to the number of FTE employed by Cabinet Office although value and efficiencies are delivered across the Civil Service.
The Cabinet Office is committed to driving efficiencies as directed by the Chancellor.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of civil servants on full-time equivalent contracts at senior civil servant pay band two (SCS2) are women.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
As at April 2023 the percentage of Senior Civil Servants (SCS) at Director level (Payband 2) working full-time who are women is 41.0%.
The answer has been calculated by dividing the number of women at Payband 2 in the Senior Civil Service by the total number of staff in the Senior Civil Service at Payband 2 where sex is known. All Civil Service organisations have been included in the calculation.
On Civil Service recruitment more broadly, in 2022/23 more than half of new entrants to the Civil Service were women (54.1%) up from 51.6% in 2021/22. 53.9% of promotions to the Senior Civil Service were women.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an estimate of the reduction in the recruitment of civilian officials as a result of the freeze in the recruitment of defence civilian staff until March 2025.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence has recently commenced a temporary recruitment pause. Following this pause, over the next 18 months we will control the recruitment of civilian staff, with certain positions not being filled. We anticipate that the Defence civilian workforce will decrease through natural attrition by around 2,000 to 3,000 posts over this period. We are currently modelling how the reduction in civil servant headcount will contribute to the financial challenges the Department is facing.
Our civilian workforce is crucial to protecting our nation and supporting our Armed Forces, and we are committed to having an agile workforce with the right skills, whilst maximising value for the taxpayer.
The wellbeing of our Defence civil servants is extremely important to us, and we are pleased that Defence civil servants have high levels of job satisfaction, as seen in the recent Civil Service Wellbeing Over Time report.