Recruitment (Hansard, 28 October 1985)

§ 35. Mr. Adley
asked the Minister for the Civil Service what steps he is taking to encourage recruitment to the Civil Service.

§ Mr. Luce
Extensive efforts are made by the Civil Service Commission and Departments to encourage recruitment, through visits and other means of publicising employment opportunities in the Civil Service.

§ Mr. Adley
I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. Does he agree that the occasional publicity given to certain civil servants could mask the fact that on the whole this House and successive Governments are extremely well served? In their dealings with the Civil Service, have not this Government achieved something that successive Governments have been exhorting industry to do, which is to replace quality with quantity—sorry, quantity with quality?

§ Mr. Luce
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his correction. I must agree with him that over the past six years the Civil Service has been through some necessary and dramatic changes, including a reduction of 133,000 civil servants, and great improvements in efficiency. We can now say with considerable pride that we have a service that is streamlined, modern, efficient and professional.

§ Dr. McDonald
Does the Minister agree that a satisfactory outcome to the long-term pay negotiations that have just commenced between the Government and the Civil Service unions would greatly aid proper recruitment to the Civil Service? Will he make a statement on behalf of the Government and agree that the Civil Service unions should have access to arbitration and to pay research data, and that, in those negotiations, special account should be taken of the problems of the low-paid within the Civil Service as a whole?

§ Mr. Luce
I should stress that pay is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Of course, facilities such as special allowances and special additions are available within the service to deal with recruitment and retention in areas where there are problems, such as shortages of specialist skills. On the broad question of longer-term pay, the proposals put forward by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 15 October provide the prospect of a stable system of future pay negotiations which will be fair to employees, Government and taxpayers alike. Discussions are now proceeding on that matter.