Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress the Government has made on its ban the box initiative; which businesses have signed up to that initiative; how many employees of her Department have unspent convictions; what progress has been made on that initiative across the wider public sector; and if she will make a statement.

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 potential skills and productivity of ex-offenders in the community.

The Civil Service has committed to banning the box, following the former Prime Minister's commitment in February 2016. Business in the Community's Ban the Box campaign was formally launched across the Civil Service on the 17th October 2016.

A number of departments are already operating their recruitment process in line with the Ban the Box principles. This approach is now being formalised across the Civil Service and departments are working to implement this initiative quickly and effectively to ensure their roles attract the widest possible range of applicants. The Cabinet Office is responsible for the Ban the Box policy in the Civil Service.

The Ministry of Justice is supportive of the initiative and will explore options for promoting Ban the Box across both the Public and Private sector to increase opportunities available to offenders.

Information about the number of business signed up to the initiative is not held by the MoJ. The Business in the Community campaign maintain the list and it can be accessed here: http://www.bitc.org.uk/programmes/ban-box/who-has-banned-box-0

The information requested relating to how many MoJ employees have unspent convictions could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.