COUNCIL bosses have praised a training course which includes asking their staff questions on heterosexuality to help them understand what it is like to be gay.

Buckinghamshire County Council workers were asked questions including 'What do you think caused your heterosexuality?' and 'Is it possible your heterosexuality stems from a neurotic fear of others of the same sex?'.

The nine members of staff were also quizzed 'If you've never slept with a person of the same sex, how do you know you wouldn't prefer it?'

The quiz was outed by the Daily Mail, which made a series of FOIs to councils over diversity and equality training courses.

The course was designed by the council's training and development team as part of the Respecting Sexuality course, which included a film on the experiences of four fictitious workers.

The course leader's notes on the film states: 'Initial reactions to the stories vary widely, with heterosexual (straight) people often dismissing the stories as exaggerated or rare.

'And homosexual (gay people) immediately recognising the issues and emotions explored here as honest and relevant.'

The council said the objective of the programme was to 'help employees understand individuals need so they can deliver excellent service to our residents'.

In a statement, BCC said it has a legal obligation 'not to discriminate' under equality legislation incorporated into the Equality Act 2010 which becomes law on October 1.

It said: “Training courses such as this one will help our employees understand individuals needs, so that they may design and deliver excellent services to our residents.

“The course, which includes a film, has been praised as 'best practice' by the lobbying group Stonewall and it will be available on its website in November.

“The course also includes questions to provoke attenders' thought processes and to enable the them to put themselves in someone else's shoes.

“Questions are not used in quiz format directed to individuals but as a learning tool during the course.”