Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department uses automated decision making in relation to personnel.

While increasing use is being made of automation to support decision-making across the single Service workforce management domains, there are no automated systems currently in service, nor any in development, that will make decisions independently of human intervention. Automated support is streamlining many of the labour-intensive processes which historically have denuded the capacity of single Service workforce planners and managers to focus on resolving people issues as they arise. For example, recruitment processes may use some automation to inform applicants if they are ineligible for a particular role due to their age or nationality, but the system does provide contact details that can be used to discuss potential eligibility for alternative roles.

When recruiting into the Civil Service we may assess candidates using a psychometric test. Tests are taken online, and the test score is calculated from the individual's responses, which are compared with the results of a peer group who took the same test, creating a percentile. Individuals need to reach the pass mark for the test to proceed to the next stage of the recruitment.