The public sector likes to do everything "by the book". They are concerned as much about the risk of making a mistake as getting the answer right.
Getting references is as much about protecting those involved in the recruitment process as it is about selecting the right candidate.
They prefer other professional referees probably because through training and qualification they would be expected (naively?) to conduct themselves with integrity.
I do not think they are deliberately trying to exclude candidates, but like most organisations will tend to recruit in their own image - which generally is 20 years behind where the rest of society is!
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