15 December 2020 | UK NEWS
The Government has announced that it will be scrapping the controversial ‘unconscious bias’ training for Members of Parliament and the Civil Service.
The training had been in place since 2015, but has since come under greater scrutiny, with some Members of Parliament refusing to participate. Over the last five years, it has been reported that Government departments have spent over £370,000 on the ‘unconscious bias’ training. The Department of Work and Pensions alone spent a notable £112,500 on it.
The decision to end the ‘unconscious bias’ training was taken following a Government study conducted to determine its efficiency.
The Government’s Behavioural Insights Team found that: “There is currently no evidence that this training changes behaviour in the long term or improves workplace equality in terms of representation of women, ethnic minorities or other minority groups.”
Earlier this year, the training became mandatory for Members of Parliament, but it faced a revolt from Tory MPs. Over forty Conservative parliamentarians, led by the MP for Mansfield, Ben Bradley, refused to participate in the training.
Mr Bradley welcomed the news that the training would be halted. In the House of Commons, he said: “This unproven training does not work and I welcome the fact that we are no longer going to be wasting taxpayers’ money on it.
“The whole thing is based on the premise that everyone is unconsciously racist – I just don’t believe that is true and neither do the public.
“People are fed up with being preached at by a metropolitan elite, pushing a divisive agenda that doesn’t even work.”
