Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Written Statement of 15 December 2020, HCWS652, what steps he has taken to phase out unconscious bias training in his Department.

Following the Written Statement HCWS652, unconscious bias training was removed from DCMS’s core learning offer from January 2021 and replaced by a new learning module for all staff on ‘Inclusion in the Civil Service’. Unconscious bias training is no longer required to be completed by individuals serving on recruitment panels.

DCMS Arms-Length Bodies (ALBs) were made aware of this change and the new ‘Inclusion in the Civil Service’ course at a meeting of HR Directors on the 14th of January 2021.