To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they require departments to fill appropriate vacancies by drawing on their redeployment pool first, then on other departments' pools. [HL3064]

Departments, agencies and relevant NDPBs are required to follow the Cabinet Office protocols on handling surplus staff situations. Employers unable to fill a vacancy internally (including consideration of their own surplus employees) must advertise the vacancy exclusively, for a minimum period of 10 working days, to the wider community of surplus civil servant/NDPB employees using the CSVacs vacancy handling system.

The protocols were agreed by the Cabinet Office and the general secretaries of the CCSU and endorsed by Permanent Secretaries, the Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Office Ministers. Only in exceptional circumstances are departments granted dispensation to bypass the CSVacs process.