Ministers urge civil servants to start recruiting more working-class graduates into Whitehall
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Version 0 of 1. Senior civil servants will be warned by ministers that they must urgently start recruiting more working-class graduates into Whitehall. In his first speech since being appointed Cabinet Office Minister, Matt Hancock is expected to warn that it is “not good enough” that the top echelons of Whitehall are still dominated by public school-educated middle and upper-class graduates. He will also announce plans to extend the role of performance pay across the civil service in a move that will meet fierce resistance from public sector unions. Mr Hancock is also expected to set out how he will deliver £10bn worth of Whitehall efficiency savings promised by the Conservatives in their manifesto. While acknowledging that “some of the most brilliant people in the world join the British Civil Service,” Mr Hancock will say not enough has been done to ensure that organisation looks like “modern Britain”. “Only 7 per cent of applicants to the Civil Service Fast Stream are from working-class backgrounds,” he will say. |