Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to ensure that all jobs advertised on the Civil Service Jobs website are publicly advertised.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Civil Service Jobs website is fully accessible to the public. The website is used to advertise roles available to applicants who are external to the Civil Service, though departments may advertise on other websites. The website may also be used to advertise roles for inter- and intra-departmental moves, which enables an appropriate method of talent management and bears in mind the downward pressure on the cost of the Civil Service.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2025 to Question 50576 on Cabinet Office: Recruitment, which SCS roles were not advertised externally; and for what reason those roles were not advertised externally.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As was the case under the previous administration,the Civil Service advertises all SCS vacancies on the principle of External by Default. External by Default means that vacancies will be open to external candidates outside the Civil Service, as well as existing civil servants, unless an exception applies.
Between 30 May 2024 and 30 April 2025, 7 SCS roles were not advertised externally. In each case the appropriate approval was obtained. It would not be appropriate to provide specific details of the roles as individuals could be identified.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2024 to Question 14769 on Civil Servants: Secondment, which of the recommendations from the Boardman report which have not been implemented will not be taken forward by the Cabinet Office.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The 2021 Boardman report recommended the interchange of resources between government and the private sector. We are committed to promoting the recruitment of external employees into roles in government at all levels of the Civil Service to fill critical skill gaps.
A number of secondments programmes have been set up across government to bring in critical skills across a range of sectors, to include the private sector, enabling talented individuals from outside the Civil Service to contribute to the work of Government.
For example, the Digital and Data profession launched the Digital Secondments Programme. Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s (DSIT) Expert Exchange programme brings in experts for a variety of roles, including digital, technology and AI, and GO-Science is exploring a scheme to bring greater scientific expertise into policymaking roles through STEM futures.
More broadly, this government is committed to restoring honesty and integrity in public life and has already introduced a number of changes to strengthen standards across government. This includes issuing a new Ministerial Code which highlights the importance of the principles of public life, strengthening the terms of reference for the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards, and introducing a new monthly Register of Ministers’ Gifts and Hospitality. We will continue to take necessary and proportionate steps in this area.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2024 to Question 7754 on Senior Civil Servants: Recruitment, whether a public sector equalities duty assessment was made when appointing the five mission delivery board civil service roles.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The appointment of Directors General (DGs) as Mission Senior Responsible Officers was undertaken as part of the standard management of roles within the DG workforce.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people and how many full-time equivalent posts work in the Child Maintenance Service (1) as civil servants, and (2) as contractors.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As of 30th March 2025, the number of employees working for the Child Maintenance Service is 5,055. This equates to the full-time equivalent (FTE) of 4449.65
The breakdown for (1) civil servants, and (2) contractors are as follow:
| Number of Employees | FTE |
DWP Civil Servants (GB) | 4,078 | 3502.73 |
DfCNI Civil Servants (NI) | 651 | 620.92 |
Contractors (Recruitment Agency NI) | 326 | 326 |
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 6083 on Civil Servants: Secondment, whether his Department's HR are informed when an individual is seconded to the Cabinet Office.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Secondments are arranged at a Business Unit level and must follow the processes as set out in the Civil Service Recruitment Principles. There are mechanisms in place for business units to notify the department's HR as necessary.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the new Civil Service Jobs service will be open to the public.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
There will be no change to what information and services will be open to the public when the new Civil Service Jobs platform is in place.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many Senior Civil Service vacancies have been filled through the succession select tool.
Answered by Feryal Clark
Zero Senior Civil Servant vacancies have been filled through the succession select tool; it does not form part of the recruitment or selection process for Senior Civil Servants. It is a tool used to aid internal talent management and is not used to fill vacancies.
Asked by: Lord Leigh of Hurley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the salary level or grade of seniority of a (1) permanent civil servant, (2) direct ministerial appointment, (3) public appointment and (4) special adviser at which there is a policy of public transparency on the individual public servant’s remuneration.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
In the Civil Service, the Senior Civil Service (SCS) is subject to pay transparency arrangements. Departments publish the remuneration of their staff operating at Board level in their Annual Accounts (Remuneration and staff report). Departments also publish the salaries of their SCS staff in quarterly 'organograms' on GOV.UK.
The Cabinet Office also publishes an annual ‘high earner’ list of senior officials in departments, agencies and non-departmental public bodies. The previous administration did not update this list prior to the General Election. The Cabinet Office will publish a new 2025 list in due course.
Below SCS, delegated grades are not subject to pay transparency arrangements as pay and grading below the SCS has been delegated to departments since 1996, and the publication of permanent civil servants’ remuneration within these grades is at the discretion of each organisation.
Direct ministerial appointees and public appointees are officeholders rather than employees, and do not have a grade of seniority. Most such roles are unremunerated. Where an individual role does attract remuneration, this would usually be made public either in the recruitment advertisement, when made via an open competition, or in the announcement of the appointed individual.
The salaries of special advisers earning equivalent to senior civil servants (£75,000 and above) are given in bands of £5,000 and are published in the Special Adviser Annual Report.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2025 to Question 39577 on Civil Servants: Recruitment, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the succession select tool on external recruitment to senior civil service roles.
Answered by Feryal Clark
Succession Select is an internal search tool used to support talent management within the existing Senior Civil Service (SCS) digital workforce. It is not used as part of the recruitment process, nor does it influence external appointment decisions. Accordingly, the Government has not made a formal assessment of its impact on external recruitment.