1 in 10 Ministry of Justice staff have 'experienced bullying or harassment'
More than one in 10 officials at the Ministry of Justice say they have experienced bullying, harassment or discrimination.
The department is suffering an exodus of staff as a Whitehall probe investigates bullying claims against Justice Secretary Dominic Raab.
According to the annual Civil Service People Survey, 11% of MoJ staff warned that they had experienced bullying, harassment or discrimination - significantly higher than an average across the Civil Service of 7%.
Staff turnover in the MoJ’s Whitehall headquarters has dramatically increased over the last year under Mr Raab’s leadership.
According to an annual report by the department, 7.2% of staff have left the department and civil service in the years 2021/22, compared to only 4.6% in 2020/21.
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The Mirror revealed in November Mr Raab has been nicknamed “the Incinerator” because he “burns through” staff so quickly.
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab is facing an ethics probe over bullying allegations (PA)Officials working for him accused him of creating a “climate of fear” in the Ministry of Justice.
Downing Street confirmed last month the Deputy Prime Minister was facing eight bullying complaints.
The Prime Minister has tasked lawyer Adam Tolley KC with looking into incidents during Mr Raab’s stints as Justice Secretary, foreign secretary and Brexit secretary.
Mr Raab was appointed Justice Secretary in September 2021. He was ousted from the department when Liz Truss became PM, but he returned just seven weeks later when Mr Sunak entered No10 last month.
Previous Labour analysis found that in the 12 months since Mr Raab’s appointment, 963 staff quit at the department’s HQ – up from 795 in 2021 and 610 two years before.
Mr Sunak came under pressure to sack Mr Raab last week when the Guardian revealed the bullying investigation was much bigger than expected, with at least two dozen complainants involved.
When Mr Sunak became PM three months ago, he promised a government of "integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level", but repeated sleaze scandals have called this into question.
Shadow Justice Secretary Steve Reed, who uncovered the figures, said: “It is shocking to learn that staff are fleeing the bullying culture under Dominic Raab.
"This Conservative Government has a shameful track record of brushing serious misconduct under the carpet. Their refusal to act on Priti Patel ’s bullying led their ethics chief to quit in disgust.
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“Rishi Sunak promised integrity and accountability. His failure to suspend Raab while serious allegations of his bullying are investigated is yet more proof of the Prime Minister's weakness inside his own party. Labour has a plan to clean up politics through a fully independent Ethics and Integrity Commission.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “We have zero tolerance for bullying, harassment or discrimination and reports of this behaviour in MoJ and our agencies have fallen by around a third since 2010 as a result of our work to tackle it.”
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