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Civil servants attending hundreds of ‘woke’ events each month during working hours – including listening circles, ‘sapphic sounds’ music events and an ‘allyship working group catch up’
Civil servants are scheduling hundreds of ‘woke’ events a month in their working hours.
They include ‘listening circles for trans colleagues and allies’, music sessions called ‘sapphic sounds’ and two-hour-long diversity and inclusion sessions.
The meetings are organised by staff networks within government departments. These include diversity groups, environmental and faith groups, as well as culture and history enthusiast networks. Some departments also have networks dedicated to ‘flexible working’.
The Cabinet Office said ‘staff networks should not host events during work time’.
But many are not following the guidance and the meetings can last for several hours.
In May alone, 200 events and meetings were held across seven government departments – an average of ten per working day, according to documents released using the Freedom of Information Act.
Some events had as many as 100 attendees, while others lasted for up to four hours.
The ‘listening circle for trans colleagues and allies’ was held on May 7 at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero at 11am for an hour.
In May alone, 200 events and meetings were held across seven government departments – an average of ten per working day, according to documents released using the Freedom of Information Act
Elliot Keck, head of campaigns at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Taxpayers are sick of seeing staff time wasted on pointless meetings and irrelevant events’
And the Treasury’s history network held a 90-minute presentation on May 14 on ‘Wars, fires and pandemics: how events shaped our buildings.’
LGBT networks schedule regular events during working hours, including ‘a conversation on lesbian identity’ and a ‘sapphic sounds’ music event in April in the Department for Transport.
Another sapphic sounds event was staged in the Department for Education on April 24, and a ‘listening circle’ following the high-profile Supreme Court judgment on biological sex in the Department for Business and Trade on April 17.
The Treasury’s All Ages Network, a diversity group, held a four-hour staff event in May.
Staff networks at the Department for Health and Social Care held the most events in May, with a total of 84. These included an ‘Invisible Women’ presentation at 10.30am as well as a race equality ‘allyship working group catch up’ at 4pm.
Elliot Keck, head of campaigns at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Taxpayers are sick of seeing staff time wasted on pointless meetings and irrelevant events, none of which benefits the Britons paying for them.
‘The country faces crises in almost every policy area, with illegal immigration skyrocketing, energy bills through the roof and the economy in the doldrums.
‘Yet pusillanimous pen pushers are devoting huge amounts of their time to ignoring these issues and focusing on their own pet projects.
‘Ministers need to take on The Blob and demand an unconditional end to events and meetings during working hours.’
A Government spokesman said: ‘While departments are responsible for their own networks, it is strongly advised that activity takes place outside of working hours, including in lunch breaks which staff are entitled to as in the private sector.’
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Civil servants attending hundreds of ‘woke’ events each month during working hours – including listening circles, ‘sapphic sounds’ music events and an ‘allyship working group catch up’
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