Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Champion is taking to ensure (a) improved engagement and (b) increased promotion rates of under-represented groups.

Matthew Hancock

To govern modern Britain, the Civil Service needs to look and sound likemodern Britain. We need access to the broadest possible pool of talent, drawing on peoplefrom all backgrounds and all parts of the country.

We have published the Talent Action Plan which introduced the ‘Removing Barriers to Success’ programme’, overseen by the Diversity and Inclusion Champion, Sue Owen. We have introduced Shared Parental Leave, launched the Civil Service Job Share Finder and made sure all-male shortlists and selection panels for senior positions are by exception only. We are also increasing the number of places on our development programme aimed at disabled, BAME and LGB&T Civil Servants from 200 to 1000.

We are also implementing a number of initiatives to recruit individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds onto the Fast Stream and Fast Track Apprenticeship schemes, including internship programmes, schools and colleges mentoring and discovery days, work experience programmes and engagement with universities with a high representation of lower socio-economic students.