Civil servants of the people will be recruited from all backgrounds
FORMER prisoners will be offered Civil Service jobs under reforms to make the organisation more diverse.
Up to 1,000 ex-inmates are to be recruited as part of root and branch reorganisation plans announced today.
Fifty Enterprise Advisers will also be sent into comprehensive schools outside London to headhunt smart pupils receiving free school meals.
The move comes as ministers bid to counter criticism the Civil Service is elitist, too London-centric and fails to represent the views of the majority of the general public.
The service has been criticised in recent years amid revelations that billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money is wasted on badly run projects.
Wasted
Last month, Treasury minister Lord Agnew quit over the handling of Covid loans fraud. The peer warned that “a combination of arrogance, indolence and ignorance” was “freezing the government machine”.
The new Diversity and Inclusion Strategy will see the service draw on talent from different geographical, social and ethnic backgrounds.
Other reforms include tackling “groupthink” and ensuring regional views are taken into account when making decisions. Huge fees paid to consultants will also be cut.
Meanwhile, ministers say the public sector will become less reliant on advice from external organisations..
And through its Places for Growth programme, 22,000 Civil Service roles will be relocated out of London, boosting Boris Johnson’s levelling up agenda. Two thousand roles have already moved out of the capital and half of senior roles will be outside London by 2030.
Glasgow has been announced as the location for the Cabinet Office’s second HQ and the Ministry of Justice will expand its presence inWales.
Steve Barclay, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said: “It’s vital the Civil Service reflects the people it serves right across the UK.
“That’s why we’re relocating roles out of London, allowing us to draw better on the skills and talent of people across the country.”
Cabinet Office permanent secretary Alex Chisholm, the service’s chief operating officer, added: “The Civil Service aims to be a model employer, attracting and making the most of all the talents available to us across the UK. “This new strategy will help us to deliver on this goal, strengthening our ability to meet the changing needs of modern Britain.” The shake-up comes as a think-tank boss warned the 500,000-strong Civil Service needed to increase its diversity to more accurately represent the population if the Government is to successfully level up.
Will Tanner, director of the Rightleaning Onward, added: “Our research shows the Civil Service becoming less representative in recent years, with more and more civil servants being recruited and based in London.
“These welcome reforms to recruitment will start to reverse that trend – but there is much more to do to ensure those making decisions reflect those they are acting on behalf of.”
The details of which prisoners would be eligible to work in the Civil Service are still being ironed out. However, it is unlikely those convicted of the most serious crimes would be allowed to apply.