§ Mr. Duncan SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on recruitment at GCHQ covering the information that is required to be published under the provisions of the recruitment code of the civil service commissioners. [40087]
329W
§ Mr. RifkindIt is GCHQ's policy that all recruitment to the Department is carried out on the basis of fair and open competition and selection on merit, subject to the exception permitted by the civil service commissioners and in accordance with the guidance issued by them. This policy is given force by the regulations in the staff handbook and on a more detailed level by the manual of recruitment produced by the recruitment office. The primary responsibility for ensuring that these
Total Women Ethnic minorities Disabled Grade Applied Recruited Applied Recruited Applied Recruited Applied Recruited GC8 CS 128 2 5 1 4 0 0 0 GC9 CS 5 0 0 0 GC8 LB 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 GC9 LB 20 1 16 1 1 0 1 0 GC9 IO 562 5 98 1 20 0 7 0 GC10 CS 403 25 55 1 25 0 l 0 GC10 AA 202 12 112 7 13 0 0 0 GC10 LB 61 2 34 2 0 0 0 0 GMT 903 4 355 4 24 0 3 0 GC11 SY 61 1 5 0 0 0 1 0 GC13 SY 108 0 3 0 1 0 2 0 GC14 AA 6 1 5 1 0 0 0 0 GC14 GS 41 5 5 0 0 0 1 0 GC12 CE 154 8 18 1 1 2 0 0 Totals 2,652 72 711 19 89 2 16 0 Percentage — 3 27 3 3 2 1 0 Explanations: GC14 GS is a former Industrial Grade; GC12 CE are student Scientist and Engineers; GC11 and 13 SY are Security Officer Grades; GC10 AA broadly equates to EO in the Home Civil Service; GC10 CS broadly equates to SO in the Home Civil Service; GC10 LB, GC9 LB and GC8 LB are Librarian Grades; GC9 10 are Investigating Officers; GC9 CS broadly equates to HSO in the Home Civil Service; GC8 CS broadly equates to SSO in the Home Civil Service; GMT = Graduate Management Trainee—GCHQ's Fast Stream. The only category of exceptions to the general recruitment policy permitted by the commissioners and used by GCHQ during the period, excluding appointments for less than 12 months, was the reappointment of former members of the Department. Reinstatement has been a long-standing feature of GCHQ's recruitment both because of the unique nature of many of the skills used in the Department and because it provides an opportunity for members of staff to return after informal career breaks. In 1995 there were two female reinstatements, at GC10 and GC11 level respectively. There were no applications for reinstatements by people from ethnic minorities or with a disability.