Civil Servants

Mr. Maude
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many (a) applicants and (b) posts to available for such applicants there were to join the Civil Service fast stream in each year since 1996-97.

Mr. Watson
Application and recruitment figures for the Fast Stream as a whole, which consists of the Graduate Fast Stream, the Economist Fast Stream, the Statistician Fast Stream and, since 2007, the Technology in Business Fast Stream, are as follows:

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|    |Applications|Vacancies|
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|1996|11,842      |310      |
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|1997|10,144      |277      |
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|1998|9,037       |235      |
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|1999|9,814       |306      |
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|2000|14,409      |426      |
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|2001|11,777      |421      |
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|2002|14,328      |411      |
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|2003|20,032      |510      |
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|2004|8,598       |467      |
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|2005|12,957      |504      |
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|2006|13,945      |476      |
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|2007|13,619      |380      |
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