Diversity and inclusion coaching to be ‘integrated’ into core civil service training
Move follows controversial decision to scrap unconscious bias training after Behavioural Insights Team says programmes cannot demonstrate their worth
Julia Lopez
22 Dec 2020
The Cabinet Office has confirmed that civil service training on diversity and inclusion will be rolled into mainstream programmes to provide officials with the skills they need to do their jobs, following the scrapping of unconscious bias training.
Parliamentary secretary at the department Julia Lopez said further details of the move would be set out in the new year as part of a strategy that would “reassert our commitment to being an inclusive employer with a stronger focus on engaging measurable action”.
UK government follows US with ban on unconscious bias training
By Adam Branson on 16/12/2020
One of the purposes of unconscious bias training is to increase diversity. Credit: Gilberto A. Viciedo/Flickr/cc2.0
The UK government is phasing out unconscious bias training for civil servants and encouraging all public sector bodies to follow suit, in a move that echoes a similar decision by the Trump administration little more than two months ago.
In a written statement, Cabinet Office minister Julia Lopez said that the government had concluded that such training, which it was hoped would increase the diversity of the civil service, had been found to be ineffective and possibly counterproductive.