Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what new measures they are considering (1) to reduce the time for hiring and vetting, and (2) to attract and develop more applicants with STEM skills, in order to improve socio-economic diversity in recruitment to the Civil Service fast stream summer internship programme.

Initiatives are under way to improve time to hire across the Civil Service, which include establishing and benchmarking standardised recruitment metrics and using ‘test and learns’ to find new ways to attract and recruit talent.

UK Security Vetting (UKSV) has made significant progress in improving overall times to process applications for National Security Vetting. Performance continues to track at an all time high and UKSV remains committed to continuous improvement.

Our Fast Stream Summer Internship Programme will be for undergraduates from lower socio-economic backgrounds for 2026. The annual recruitment exercise aligns to the academic year, with vetting and recruitment conducted in time for the students summer start dates.

The Fast Stream, for which the Summer Internship is a feeder route, continues to focus on its 2022 ambition that 50% of hires to the Fast Stream will have a Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) qualification. This was exceeded in 2023 and 2024.