§ Mr. Beggsasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will introduce application forms for all vacancies in the Civil Service and public authority advertised vacancies which will not require information on schools attended at primary and post primary level; and if he will make a statement.
§ Dr. BoysonNo. As has already been announced, candidates for posts in the Northern Ireland Civil Service are to be invited to record details of their primary education. There will be accompanying advice that answers will be treated as strictly confidential, that the information will be used only for the Civil Service Commission's monitoring of recruitment and that the absence of a response will not be taken into consideration in the selection of candidates for appointment.
Full details of second and third level education will continue to be required where reference to the institutions concerned is a feature of the recruitment process.
Recruitment to posts in public authorities is a matter for those authorities themselves.