Baroness Warsi: New Whitehall internships announced

Co-Conservative Chairman, Baroness Warsi, has launched a new ‘Whitehall Internship’ programme.

The programme is one of three internship schemes designed for graduates and undergraduates, college students and secondary students who come from under-represented groups, including Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities and people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds.

The new scheme, part of the Deputy Prime Minister’s social mobility strategy launched yesterday, will run alongside the existing Civil Service  Fast Stream Summer Diversity Internship  for undergraduates and graduatesand  the two other programmes aimed younger college and secondary level students aged 13 – 17.  

The nationwide schemes are designed to ‘raise aspirations and provide meaningful, professional experiences that develop transferable skills which can be harnessed in future life and employment’.

The Fast Stream internship programme will offer placements across Whitehall and regionally for 2011. The College and secondary schemes will run pilots across the UK this summer.

Baroness Warsi, Minister without Portfolio said: "Obtaining an internship often depends on who, rather than what, you know. Many talented young people miss out simply because they lack the necessary contacts or face financial barriers when internships are unpaid.

“I believe offering work experience and internships to young people will not just help remove artificial barriers to progression, but organisations themselves will benefit from having access to a much wider pool of talent. I am pleased that the Government is leading the way. These internships have been designed for talented students who wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to gain experience in a Whitehall department.

“These schemes will give students a real start in life by not only providing skills and experiences that they can draw on when looking for jobs but the programmes will broaden their horizons and raise their aspirations.

The Government will end its informal internships and instead from 2012, all the schemes will be advertised on a central Civil Service Internships website. And will seek bids for the Summer 2011 pilot scheme via the Contracts Finder website.