Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the eligibility criteria for the MI5, MI6 and GCHQ Summer Intelligence Internship on people from disadvantaged white working class backgrounds.

In recent years, UK Intelligence Community (UKIC) has run a number of internships and placement schemes. They are designed to provide insight about what it is like to work in UKIC to individuals who have particular skills and experience, want to work in a particular area and/or are from demographics and backgrounds under-represented across Government.

Any internship participant wishing to subsequently apply for employment with UKIC or the Civil Service is required to take part in a fair and open competition, in the normal way, with selection based on merit.