“Unconscious bias training” is being scrapped for civil servants in England, with ministers saying it does not work.
The training, intended to tackle patterns of discrimination and prejudice, is used in many workplaces.
The government says there is no evidence it changes attitudes – and is urging other public sector employers to end this type of training.
Race equality campaigner Halima Begum said the government “mustn’t backtrack on anti-racism training”.
Lucille Thirlby, assistant general secretary of the FDA civil servants’ union, called on ministers to say “what are you going to replace it with”.
“How will they ensure people are not discriminated against? It’s easier to attack something than do something positive about it,” she said.
But the government says there is no proof that such training changes behaviour – and that it can “backfire” and create a negative response.
A written ministerial statement from Cabinet Office minister Julia Lopez will announce “unconscious bias training does not achieve its intended aims. It will therefore be phased out in the civil service”.
“We encourage other public sector employers to do likewise,” she says, urging the end to training which has been widely used to address bias in race, gender and sexuality.
But it has also been caught up in “culture war” arguments and accusations over “political correctness”.
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