Unconscious bias training (FOI21987)

Thank you for your email of 1 March 2021 requesting information from Ordnance Survey in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000, as set out in the extract below:

“I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act. I am looking for information about unconscious bias training. Please could you provide me with the following:

1. How many staff have undergone unconscious bias training over the last five calendar years? Please could you break down the number by year for 2021 (up to and including the end of February), 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017.
2. How much money has been spent unconscious bias training for staff over the last five calendar years? Please could you break down the figure by year for 2021 (up to and including the end of February), 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017.
3. In each case where there has been expenditure on unconscious bias training, please could you state which company the money went to, how much, and the date of the payment.
4. If unconscious bias training has been provided to staff, please could you provide details of the format of the training is - its title, how many hours/days the training lasts, and any other relevant detail which summarises what it entails.
5. If possible, please could you provide a copy of any training material - documentation including, but not limited to, training packs, worksheets, fact sheets etc - distributed to staff as part of the unconscious bias training in any of the above years. Please note, if this is not possible, please proceed with the remainder of the request.“

I confirm that Ordnance Survey does hold some of the information you have requested. Where the information is not held this is stated. Taking each request in turn, I confirm the following:

1. How many staff have undergone unconscious bias training over the last five calendar years? Please could you break down the number by year for 2021 (up to and including the end of February), 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017.

The table below shows the number of staff that have undergone some form of unconscious bias training in the past five years:-

Year	Number of people
2017	0
2018	0
2019	40
2020	187
2021	0

2. How much money has been spent unconscious bias training for staff over the last five calendar years? Please could you break down the figure by year for 2021 (up to and including the end of February), 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017.

The table below shows how much money has been spent on unconscious bias training for OS staff over the last five calendar years: -

Year	Money spent
2017	£0.00
2018	£0.00
2019	£0.00
2020	£5,950
2021	£0.00

In relation to the training which took place in 2019 for 40 people this training was delivered internally so there was no financial cost to Ordnance Survey.

3. In each case where there has been expenditure on unconscious bias training, please could you state which company the money went to, how much, and the date of the payment.

OS used Inclusive Employers for the delivery of the sessions in 2020, which all included an element of unconscious bias training. Fees of £5000 were paid in November 2020 and £950 was paid in July 2020.

4. If unconscious bias training has been provided to staff, please could you provide details of the format of the training is - its title, how many hours/days the training lasts, and any other relevant detail which summarises what it entails.

In 2019 the training was delivered by the Resourcing Manager at Ordnance Survey and the focus of training was helping hiring managers understand our recruitment and selection process, and the potential for unconscious bias within this.

In 2020 unconscious bias training formed part of broader diversity awareness workshops for several areas of our business. There were two webinars i) ‘Seizing the Moment for Inclusion’ and ii) Global Innovation Through Inclusion’. These were approximately hour-long webinars.

5. If possible, please could you provide a copy of any training material - documentation including, but not limited to, training packs, worksheets, fact sheets etc - distributed to staff as part of the unconscious bias training in any of the above years. Please note, if this is not possible, please proceed with the remainder of the request.

I confirm we do not hold any training material