Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Written Statement of 15 December 2020, HCWS652, on Unconscious bias training, what steps she has taken to phase out unconscious bias training in her Department.

Upon receipt of the direction from Civil Service HR that Unconscious Bias training was to be removed from the Civil Service core learning offer from January 2021 the Home Office HR Learning team communicated this change across the Home Office: directly to HR Directors and DGs on 11 January; via ‘Management Matters’ internal staff news bulletin on 14 January; and via the HR/Learning network newsletter on 20 January. This message was also conveyed in briefings to Trade Unions and Home Office People Committee during February.

In addition to the CO direction the Windrush Lesson Learned Review recommendation 29 stated that the Home Office should review its diversity and inclusion and unconscious bias awareness training. The training materials being developed for implementation from September 2021 will not include Unconscious Bias training, confirmed with the Permanent Secretary on 23 March.