Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the removal of potential bias relating to (a) class, (b) race and (c) disability in civil service recruitment.

The Civil Service People Plan 2024 - 2027 outlines our commitment to ensuring we attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds. Appointment to the Civil Service must be based on merit on the basis of fair and open competition.

To support this, and reduce the potential for bias in the recruitment process, the Cabinet Office uses name-blind recruitment where applications are anonymised during sifting. Information on candidates' socio-economic background and race is collected for monitoring and reporting purposes, but hiring managers are not provided with access to this information for individual candidates.

The Cabinet Office also uses the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS), ensuring disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria for a role are given a fair opportunity to demonstrate their skills at interview.