WHITEHALL has been accused of ‘racist institutional bias’ by the head of the civil service’s main union, who claims that white civil servants were twice as likely to be promoted than non-white colleagues.
In a letter to Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary Alex Chisholm, Union General Secretary of Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Mark Serwotka stated that statistics indicated a “consistent pattern” of white personnel being more likely to be promoted during a 14-month period.
It said that nearly one in 10 (9.8 per cent) government officials reported facing prejudice due to their ethnicity last year, up from 4.6 per cent in 2012.
Serwotka wrote: “The service, along with organisations such as the Metropolitan Police resist the notion that it is institutionally biased.
“However, if the differences in promotion rates are not driven by racism, what is the explanation? If you cannot provide a plausible alternative explanation, then the civil service must admit there is bias in the system.”
Serwotka, who is set to retire next year, said there was a “wholly broken system” in recruitment across the civil service, and that in the Cabinet Office “little or nothing has been achieved and racism still remains a major issue.”
It was previously reported that a Cabinet Office internal study concluded that federal officials who bullied, harassed, or discriminated against co-workers did not face disciplinary action.
Chisholm told the public administration and constitutional affairs committee this month that the department had accepted all 61 suggestions from the assessment, but that although some were “quick wins”, others “will take a longer period of time” to execute.
Former Business Secretary Alok Sharma recently refuted charges that he intimidated public staff, while Dominic Raab resigned as deputy prime minister in April after claims that he instilled a “culture of fear” in government departments.
A government spokesperson told: “We are committed to ensuring that the civil service reflects the country it serves at all levels. We’ve already seen a significant rise in representation of different backgrounds and locations, with the representation of ethnic minority civil servants at a record high.
“We are not complacent and continue to make reforms to how the civil service recruits and promotes talent to raise representation at the most senior levels, for example – a record quarter of all fast-stream applicants came from an ethnic minority background last year.”
*Whitehall is the name of a street in London in which there are many government offices. It is also used to mean the British Government itself.
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