It takes far too long for staff to be recruited into the public service, the National Audit Office has found.

In a report on the way public service recruitment is managed, the NAO says it is “highly unacceptable” that it takes an average of 71 weeks for staff to be resourced for general service grades.

Calls for non-general service grades took an average of 38 weeks to be completed during the period between 2008 and 2010, the NAO found.

It has put forward a number of recommendations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the process.

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