Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government (a) practices and (b) encourages the public sector to practice name blind recruitment; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Chloe Smith
'Anonymised' recruitment (where candidates' personal details are removed from the application form prior to shortlisting) is considered the "default" for external Civil Service recruitment.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2018 to Question 138406, what steps he has taken to encourage the public sector beyond the civil service to adopt the Ban the Box policy.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Shadow Deputy Prime Minister
The Government is committed to removing barriers for all individuals, including ex-offenders. The Civil Service is leading by example and has adopted the Ban the Box policy and is encouraging organisations across the private and public sectors to adopt the policy.
The Ministry of Justice recently published their Education and Employment strategy on 24 May. The strategy highlights the progress of Ban the Box across both public and private sectors, and reiterates its value. The Government is also continuing to explore opportunities to promote the employment of ex-offenders in the Civil Service and wider public sector.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
What the Government's policy is on support for the Ban the Box initiative.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Shadow Deputy Prime Minister
The Government is supportive of all employers adopting the Ban the Box initiative. The Civil Service is leading by example and adopted the initiative in 2016 to provide fairer opportunities for ex-offenders to compete for jobs.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress the Government has made on the roll-out the ban the box initiative throughout the public sector.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Shadow Deputy Prime Minister
The Civil Service chose to adopt the Ban the Box initiative in February 2016. The Cabinet Office does not hold information on the number of public sector organisations that have adopted the Ban the Box policy.
I also refer the honourable member to the response given by Dr Phillip Lee on behalf of the Ministry of Justice on the 13th November 2017 (Ref: 111417).
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, by when he plans fully to implement the Ban the Box initiative across Government.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The government is committed to improving diversity of opportunity and creating an inclusive working environment that attracts the best talent and makes the most of the potential skills and productivity of ex-offenders. All departments operate in line with the principles of the ‘Ban the Box’ campaign. This initiative has been implemented by all the central Civil Service departments and we expect all Civil Service organisations across the Civil Service to comply with this policy.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department operates a ban the box employment policy in respect of ex-offender job applicants with unspent convictions; and how many employees of his Department have unspent convictions.
Answered by Ben Gummer
As part of the Cabinet Office recruitment process there is no requirement for applicants to declare unspent criminal convictions at the initial recruitment stage. Applicants are asked to declare unspent criminal convictions as part of basic employment checks when a provisional offer of employment has been made. Decisions concerning appointment to a post where an individual has a conviction history are made on a case-by-case basis. If a post requires National Security Vetting then both spent and unspent convictions are considered on a case by case basis under a national security exemption to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.
We would not release the information on numbers or individuals for security reasons.