§ Mr. BarronTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many, and what proportion of, vacancies advertised by his Department, and by each of his Department's agencies, in the last three years have listed the attainment of NVQs as an acceptable entry requirement; and, of those, how many have required (i) level 1 NVQs, (ii) level 2 NVQs, (iii) level 3 NVQs and (iv) other level NVQs. [22976]
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§ Mr. FreemanSince 1991, levels 1 and 2 NVQs in business administration have been recognised qualifications for entry to some junior non-managerial grades in my Department. Recruitment of more junior grades is undertaken by a large number of personnel management authorities throughout the country. Their individual recruitment activities are not co-ordinated centrally, and no central records are maintained of vacancies advertised. Information on the number and percentage of vacancies listing the NVQs as an acceptable criterion of these grades could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Level 3 and 4 NVQs in information technology have been accepted as an entry criterion for recruitment to recently advertised specialist IT executive officer posts. The scope for recognising a wider range of NVQs for recruitment to industrial and non-industrial posts is under review.
Recruitment of executive officers is undertaken centrally. The current executive officer (IT) recruitment campaign aims to fill 90 posts which equate to 100 per cent. of the total E0(IT) posts advertised by the Department this year.