‘Common Sense’ minister Esther McVey has announced a ban on civil service jobs dedicated to ‘equality, diversity and inclusion’ (EDI). The Times has more.
In a speech on Monday, McVey will claim that public money is being wasted on “woke hobby horses” across Whitehall. She wants to stop any more officials devoted to EDI outside of human resources, with no more staff doing it as their primary role.
New guidance is being worked on that would stop all external EDI spending across the civil service unless it is authorised by ministers.
Arms-length bodies that spend the most on external EDI will also be called in for meetings with McVey to account for how doing so benefits taxpayers. McVey, a Cabinet Office minister without portfolio, said in an article for the Sunday Telegraph that the public sector must not become a “pointless job creation scheme for the politically correct”.
The amount of staff time taken up by diversity programmes was “a major concern”, she said. “Time and money which should be spent on the core purpose of the public sector – delivering for the public – is being wasted on woke hobby horses.
“Most of these kinds of EDI programmes – especially when delivered by private companies or campaigning organisations – are not transparent, and their benefits unproven. If we can’t prove their worth, then they don’t pass the public interest test. So I’m determined to stop it.”
Worth reading in full.
Stop Press: In her speech yesterday morning announcing her war on woke, Esther McVey revealed she will ban rainbow lanyards in the Civil Service. The Times has more.
Stop Press 2: Civil service diversity jobs are superficial, patronising and a waste of taxpayers’ money, says Celia Walden in the Telegraph, applauding Esther McVey’s crusade.
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