Asked by: Emma Lewell (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what proportion of (a) disabled and (b) all other staff in his Department reported experiencing bullying or harassment at work in the most recent Civil Service People Survey.
Answered by George Hollingbery
Bullying and harassment have no place in any workplace, including the Civil Service.
In the most recent People Survey, an average of 11% of respondents across the Civil Service reported that they'd experienced bullying or harassment at work in the 12 months preceding the survey.
Whilst this figure has remained stable since 2016, we recognise that certain groups of staff are more like to say they have experienced this type of unacceptable behaviour than others. This includes staff members with long-term limiting conditions who, in the vast majority of departments and agencies, were more likely to say they'd been bullied or harassed in the last 12 months than staff members with no long-term limiting conditions.
We are strengthening the routes for staff to report bullying and harassment to ensure that all staff are fully supported throughout the process, and to ensure cultures are positive and inclusive.
The high-level People Survey results for each organisation, including reported rates of bullying and harassment, were published last December on gov.uk.
Each spring the Cabinet Office conducts and publishes a range of further analysis on the People Survey responses, including the results by gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and health status. Similar analysis will be conducted again this year and made available on gov.uk.
The results for the 2017 survey are summarised below. A copy of this table has been placed in the House.
Civil Service People Survey 2017: results by organisation and health status
Long-term health status is captured in the People Survey through questions J04 and J04A. J04 asks if the individual has a "long-standing physical or mental health condition, illness, impairment or disability?" and, if they answer yes, J04A asks whether their condition, illness or disability has an impact on their daily activity or the work they can do.
Results are aggregated in to two broad categories: "No long-term limiting condition", combining those who answer No to either J04 or J04A; and, "Long-term limiting condition", those who answer Yes to J04 and who answer that their condition limits what they can do either "a little" or "a lot" at J04A.
Answered “Yes” to the question “During the past 12 months have you personally experienced bullying or harassment at work?” | No limiting long-term illness | Has a limiting long-term illness |
Acas | 8% | 21% |
Accountant in Bankruptcy | 4% | 0% |
Animal and Plant Health Agency | 10% | 23% |
Attorney General's Office | 4% | .. |
Cabinet Office | 9% | 19% |
Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science | 7% | 22% |
Charity Commission | 10% | 22% |
Civil Service HR | 13% | 22% |
Companies House | 4% | 11% |
Competition and Markets Authority | 11% | 33% |
Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority | 8% | 31% |
Crown Commercial Service | 10% | 20% |
Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service | 10% | 35% |
Crown Prosecution Service | 8% | 21% |
Defence Electronics and Components Agency | 17% | 38% |
Defence Equipment & Support | 10% | 25% |
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy | 6% | 15% |
Department for Communities and Local Government | 6% | 19% |
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport | 4% | 12% |
Department for Education | 7% | 17% |
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 7% | 16% |
Department for Exiting the European Union | 6% | 25% |
Department for International Development | 10% | 20% |
Department for International Trade | 10% | 17% |
Department for Transport | 6% | 14% |
Department for Work and Pensions | 8% | 20% |
Department of Health | 6% | 9% |
Disclosure Scotland | 9% | 27% |