HL Deb 11 November 1982 vol 436 cc413-4WA
Lord Campbell of Alloway

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they are satisfied with the procedures for selecting fast-stream graduates for the Home Civil Service.

Baroness Young

The Civil Service Commissioners have invited Sir Alec Atkinson, formerly Second Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health and Social Security, to review their selection procedures for administration trainees in the Home Civil Service, and for certain other grades; to advise them whether any changes are needed to make the procedures more cost-effective while maintaining or improving their fairness; and to report to them by February 1983. The review will take into account on the one hand the high rate of applications from graduates wishing to join the Service, and on the other the relatively small number of vacancies for administration trainees which has resulted from the decision to adopt an "all-fast-stream" entry for the grade, and from reductions in the size of the Civil Service.