HC Deb 09 March 2004 vol 418 cc1375-7
21. Mr. Wayne David (Caerphilly) (Lab)

If he will make a statement on measures to improve occupational health in the civil service. [159450]

Mr. Alexander

The Cabinet Office works with Departments to promote a consistent approach to managing health in the civil service. It will continue to advise and monitor that area by collecting information on absence rates, facilitating the sharing of good practice and promoting the importance of occupational health in the workplace.

Mr. David

Have any comparisons been made of absenteeism due to sickness in the civil service compared with the private sector?

Mr. Alexander

Finding statistics to make direct comparisons between the public and private sectors is difficult, but I understand that in some private sectors—such as manufacturing and production—sickness rates are similar to those experienced in the civil service.

Mr. John Randall (Uxbridge) (Con)

Are there any specific measures to prevent memory loss among civil servants? If so, could they be extended to Ministers of the Crown?

Mr. Alexander

I am tempted to reply that I have forgotten whether such arrangements are in place. I am unaware of any specifics but if there are, I shall be happy to write to the hon. Gentleman.

22. David Taylor (North-West Leicestershire) (Lab/ Co-op)

What initiatives are planned to assist people with disabilities to use their talents by seeking civil service careers. [159451]

Mr. Alexander

The Cabinet Office undertakes a range of activities to encourage people with disabilities to apply to the civil service and to increase the proportion of disabled people in the senior civil service. The summer placement scheme encourages people with disabilities to apply for the graduate fast-stream programme. The civil service also participates in Workstep—a Department for Work and Pensions initiative to help disabled people progress into mainstream employment where appropriate.

David Taylor

Even though the number of disabled persons entering the summer scheme might be relatively modest, that initiative will help to dispel discriminatory attitudes and practices in Departments, as well as giving graduates fast-stream access to more senior jobs. Can my hon. Friend confirm that it remains a central objective dramatically to increase the number of civil servants with disabilities in senior posts from the low level that this Government inherited in 1997? What progress has been made in the intervening seven years?

Mr. Alexander

We are determined to increase the number of disabled senior civil servants serving the country, but recognise that there is more work to be done. I particularly welcome the summer placement scheme, which ensures that the key fast-stream route into the senior civil service takes forward our work in relation to diversity.

Mr. Richard Allan (Sheffield, Hallam) (LD)

Constituents of mine report that the problem is less one of getting into the civil service and more one of barriers to progress within it. Is there monitoring of grading and promotions, to ensure that there is no discrimination against disabled people seeking to advance their careers?

Mr. Alexander

Discrimination has no place in the civil service as a whole or the senior civil service. By definition, those entering senior posts have been promoted from the ranks of the civil service. I am keen to see continued and heightened progress in meeting the challenge of increasing the number of disabled people in the senior civil service in particular.

23. Julie Morgan (Cardiff, North) (Lab)

What plans he has to open up civil service jobs to external applications. [1159452]

Mr. Alexander

Within the framework laid down by the Civil Service Order in Council 1995 and the recruitment code issued by the civil service commissioners, Departments and agencies have the authority to determine their own practices and procedures for the recruitment of staff to the home civil service—including whether to open posts up to external competition.

Julie Morgan

Does my hon. Friend agree that, if even more jobs were open to external advertisement, the civil service would be much more likely to reflect society and have a more diverse workforce?

Mr. Alexander

My hon. Friend makes a powerful point. The number of open competitions has increased and I am determined that—as the Prime Minister made clear in a recent speech—the service should be capable not just of offering expert policy advice but of assisting government in the delivery of policies.