Civil servants are finally to be banned from holding absurd woke seminars during working hours under new rules being brought in by Labour. Whitehall has come under frequent fire in the last few years over mandarins spending hours wasting time holding Civil Service staff network meetings instead of doing their jobs.
Some of these have included meetings about LGBT, gender equality, vegan food, the menopause, and flexible working. However, some examples have been even more ludicrous, including sessions dedicated to knitting, “menopause yoga”, and “guided meditation”. On Tuesday, the Cabinet Office announced that all events must take place outside working hours and be signed off by senior managers.
The Government is also cracking down on meetings that have raised questions about Civil Service bias, mandating that they must “remain impartial and represent the Civil Service”.
The Cabinet Office has branded some reported examples as “inappropriate” and says some meetings have been used by public servants to attempt to influence government policy.
It warns that any civil servant breaching the new rules may be subject to disciplinary action, and networks that break the rules may be suspended.
Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said: “We are taking action to prevent inappropriate uses of networks in the Civil Service.
“While the vast majority of networks and their events are run within the rules, this new guidance delivers clarity. It will ensure all network members and leaders are aware of the need to remain impartial at all times and fulfil the expected behaviours set out in the Civil Service code.”
Other recent laughable examples of civil servants using working hours on non-work events have included the Department for Work and Pensions hosting a Q&A lunch “with a witch”, hosted by the department’s faith and belief network.
The event, which was cancelled after being revealed by the Guido Fawkes website, was set to take place from 2-3pm on a Thursday.
Months later, the department’s National Race Network invited staff to attend a lecture on “white awareness” during the working day.
In August, Guido revealed that 119 HMRC staff were allowed to spend 20% of their working hours on seven networks, including events such as “Multicultural Event in Portsmouth” and “Dyslexia from a Cultural Perspective”.
Earlier this year, Labour pledged a “radical” shake-up of the Civil Service, vowing to introduce stricter performance targets for officials and linking pay with performance.
The Cabinet Office is also seeing a reduction of about 10,000 Civil Service roles after the number of Whitehall staff swelled over the past decade.
