Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to introduce a voluntary exit programme for civil servants serving in his Department.

The Department grew to address recent challenges, including its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but now some of that extra capacity is no longer necessary. Rather than top down numbers targets, the Department is concentrating on having an effective workforce for the future that allows it to do the best it can for children and young people.

To do that, the Department has taken the decision to launch a selective Voluntary Exit Scheme. This will support those who wish to leave the Department, and who may not necessarily have the key skills needed. This is an approach that many organisations use and it will help the Department to retain those staff needed to deliver its programme.