Civil servants union accuses Whitehall of 'racist institutional bias'

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka says the data shows institutional bias in the civil service. Photo: Aaron Chown/PA

The civil service has been accused of «institutional bias» and racism by the head of a major Whitehall union.

Mark Serwotka, leader of the Union for Public and Commercial Services (PCS), wrote to the permanent secretary in the cabinet ministers, claiming that white employees are twice as likely to receive promotions as their non-white counterparts.

He suggested that racism was the reason for this discrepancy, stressing that the civil service must admit that there is «bias in the systems» if it cannot provide a «plausible alternative explanation».

This puts additional pressure on officials as tensions with the government escalate and a «bunch» of civil servants are accused of igniting the fire of the Brexit laws and persecuting right-wing conservatives in a Whitehall «witch hunt» in recent weeks. .

In a letter to Alex Chisholm seen by The Times, Mr Servotka wrote: “Certainly, the data we analyzed shows a consistent pattern over the 14 months where employees registered as white are twice as likely to be successful in promotion than employees registered as non-white. white; and the number of those registered as black is even worse.”

He said: “The service, along with organizations such as the Metropolitan Police, resists the notion that it is institutionally biased. However, if differences in promotion rates are not due to racism, then what is the explanation? If you can't provide a plausible alternative explanation, then the civil service must recognize that there is a bias in the system.”

A government spokesman said: “We strive to ensure that the civil service reflects the country it serves. at all levels.

"We are already seeing a significant increase in the representation of people from different backgrounds and locations, with the representation of civil servants from ethnic minorities reaching an all-time high.

“We we are not resting on our laurels and are continuing to make reforms to how the civil service recruits and promotes talent to increase representation at the highest levels, for example a record quarter of all fast track applicants came from an ethnic minority last year.”