Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that civil service recruitment processes comply with provisions in the Equality Act 2010 on discrimination against people according to their (a) socio-economic status and (b) other protected characteristics.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Cabinet Office operates a policy requiring all employment opportunities to be made readily available to all.
The current selection process is designed to be fair and objectively identify the best candidates.
There are a number of safeguards built in to the process:
Applications are anonymised until after the sift stage.
All sifters are expected to act in accordance with the Civil Service Code.
We would also expect an independent presence during any sift exercise. Each panel should include at least one member from outside of the line of business to provide an independent view.
We are committed to providing services and developing policies which promote equality of opportunity and eliminate unlawful discrimination. We are an equal opportunities employer and will not unlawfully discriminate in any aspect of employment, including how employees are selected or how employees are treated.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment the Government has made of the accessibility of Civil Service commercial function assessments for candidates with (a) dyslexia and (b) other learning difficulties.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Achievement levels for civil servants with dyslexia is not held centrally.
Government Commercial Function (GCF) works with staff networks (for example, the GCF Disability and Neurodivergent Network) to ensure that individuals are treated fairly and empathetically. Where appropriate GCF seeks professional advice, such as occupational health assessments, and encourages the use of the Workplace Adjustment Passports.
The Assessment Development Centre is designed to be as accessible as possible. Participants are encouraged to discuss any adjustments they might need at the assessment centre and adjustments are open for further discussion and amendment if needed.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of applicants with their home location in each NUTS 1 statistical region were recommended for employment for the Civil Service Fast Stream 2022.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Civil Service Fast Stream is the flagship graduate entry programme for the civil service, typically recruiting ~1,000 entrants each year across a range of professions to deliver a pipeline of talented future senior leaders for the Civil Service. It has been recognised as the number one graduate programme in the UK in the ‘Times Top 100 Graduate Employers’ list since 2019.
The proportion of applicants with their home location in each NUTS 1 statistical region, that were recommended for employment for the Civil Service Fast Stream 2022, is shown here:
NUTS 1 statistical region | Percentage |
North east (England) | 2.7% |
North west (England) | 9.4% |
Yorkshire and the Humber | 7.3% |
East midlands (England) | 5.0% |
West midlands (England) | 5.9% |
East of England | 9.1% |
London | 29.7% |
South East (England) | 14.9% |
South West (England) | 8.4% |
Scotland | 4.0% |
Wales | 2.3% |
NI, Channel Islands, and Isle of Man* | 0.4% |
Non-respondents | 0.7% |
* Combined due to small numbers
Fast Stream has been active in developing a more regional focus in terms of the home locations of successful applicants, in particular through the use of a more diverse attraction strategy. Regional success rates have risen between 2021 and 2022.
The government is committed to shifting the balance of SCS employment away from London through our successful Places for Growth strategy.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of applicants from (a) a non-selective state-run or state-funded school and (b) an independent or fee-paying school who did not receive a bursary were recommended for appointment for the Civil Service Fast Stream in 2022.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
Fast Stream has been active in addressing diversity in respect to school representation. This relates to attraction and recruitment interventions including improved marketing, expanded internships and a revised selection methodology.
Of applicants recommended for appointment for the Civil Service Fast Stream in 2022 (a) 54.7% were from a non-selective state-run or state-funded school and (b) 13.8% were from an independent or fee-paying school who did not receive a bursary.
Other categories showed that appointment rates for selective state schools were at 26.5% and independent or fee-paying schools with a bursary were at 5.0%.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of applicants to the Civil Service Fast Stream in 2022 who were recommended for employment were (a) eligible for free school meals and (b) not eligible for free school meals.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
Of applicants to the Civil Service Fast Stream in 2022 who were recommended for employment, (a) 21.3% were eligible for free school meals and (b) 78.7% were not eligible for free school meals.
Representation of those eligible for free school meals has increased in recent years. Successful Fast Stream applicants who were eligible for free school meals were 16.1% in 2021, 15.3% in 2020 and 13.1% in 2019.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of (a) white British and (b) Black or Black British - African applicants to the Civil Service Fast Stream in 2022 were recommended for appointment.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
Overall ethnic minority representation rose to the highest level on record, to 26.5% in 2022.
Of applicants to the Civil Service Fast Stream in 2022 who were recommended for appointment (a) 66.4% were white British and (b) 2.7% were Black British - African.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to publish recruitment 2022 data for the civil service fast stream.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The data will be published later this year.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 17 of the UK Science and Technology Framework, published on 6 March 2023, what steps the Government plans to take to meet the target of increasing the proportion of STEM graduates in the Fast Stream to 50 per cent.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Civil Service is committed to delivering the Prime Minister’s priorities, and recognises the need to build a strong internal STEM capability. To help build this capability, we are targeting an increase in the proportion of Fast Stream hires with a STEM subject degree qualification to 50%. To meet this target we have:
Developed a STEM-specific attraction strategy, in partnership with the Science and Engineering Profession, leveraging the Fast Stream brand to target a STEM audience.
Introduced a new Generalist-STEM recruitment option for the 2023 Fast Stream Campaign; which will enable us to attract and fairly select more graduates with STEM degree backgrounds to join the Fast Stream across a diverse range of roles in different government professions including Corporate Services, Operational Delivery, and Policy.
Used the Fast Stream target university list, to identify institutions that have a high representation of students with a STEM background.
Introduced a summer internship offer, with a specific focus on STEM graduates to act as a feeder for Fast Stream recruitment.
Re-introduced numerical reasoning tests within the Fast Stream selection process.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much his Department spent on recruitment consultants in each of the last three years.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department publishes details of consultancy and professional services spending on an annual basis, in the Annual Report and Accounts. Due to the categorisation of spend within Department systems, it is not possible to extrapolate consultancy spend specifically in relation to recruitment activity. However, a total of £233,056.01 (excluding VAT) has been identified as spend on external recruitment consultants within the last three years, broken down as follows:
Financial Year | Spend (Ex VAT) |
2020/2021 | £116,358.67 |
2021/2022 | £61,824.44 |
2022/2023 (to 31 January 2023) | £54,872.90 |
Total | £233,056.01 |
This spending relates to external consultancy support, engaged by the Department, for the recruitment of substantive Civil Servants at delegated grades, Senior Civil Servants and Board Members, and excludes the recruitment and delivery of Apprenticeship schemes, and contingent labour workers.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how much her Department spent on recruitment consultants in each of the last three years.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The total cost of support from external recruitment consultants for 2020, 2021 and 2022 was £648,408.47. This covers support for recruiting substantive civil servants at delegated grades and Senior Civil Servants (SCS) grades and Non-Executive Directors (NEDs), at the Department for International Trade and UK Export Finance.
Recruitment consultant support is used when the department is looking to recruit for roles that require a specialised or senior skillset to ensure we maximise our reach, and to help attract external candidates.
Year | Total Spend |
20/21 | £183,480.00 |
21/22 | £161,970.70 |
22/23 year to date 31/01/23 | £302,957.77 |
Total | £648,408.47 |