§ 23. Mr. Gwilym Roberts asked the Minister for the Civil Service if, in the light of the Civil Service Commission's annual report indicating that a high proportion of entrants to the administrative grade of the Civil Service came from a public school or an Oxford or Cambridge university background, or both, she will take steps to ensure that entry to the senior grades in the Civil Service is more representative of the population as a whole; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Hayhoe:The Civil Service commissioners have a duty to select on merit for the administration trainee grade the most suitable of those who apply without regard to which schools or universities they attended. I am satisfied that the commissioners are doing all that they can to encourage able graduates of universities other than Oxford or Cambridge to apply.