Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what diversity, equality and inclusion targets her Department has for staff recruitment.

The Department for Work and Pensions does not have specific targets for diversity, equality and inclusion in recruitment. Instead, the department looks to establish methods of recruitment that give all applicants a fair opportunity to succeed, based on merit. The department looks to build an organisation that is representative of the community that it serves that also fulfils all principles set by the Civil Service Commission.

The exception to this is a DWP ambition to fill 5% of AO/EO vacancies through Going Forward into Employment (GFiE) Life Chance Employment Schemes. This ambition of 5% is held across the whole Civil Service, in a scheme led by Cabinet Office, but is not a fixed target that must be met.