The Bank of England has scrapped planned DEI rules that would have forced 42,000 UK businesses to report diversity data collected on their employees amid a global backlash over the ‘progressive’ corporate agenda. The Telegraph has the story.
Regulators are to shelve proposals that would have forced 42,000 UK businesses to report diversity and inclusion data collected on their employees.
It followed criticism from the industry and politicians about putting even more bureaucratic burdens on British business, and comes amid a wider fightback against so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies that critics say stifle growth and prevent companies from hiring on merit.
The Bank’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), as well as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), said introducing the rule would have led to duplicate burdens for firms.
Donald Trump, the US President, has pledged to roll back many diversity initiatives, signing into law new rules forcing companies to ditch their targets.
Although UK companies have largely pledged to keep diversity policies unchanged, regulators are now under pressure to reduce the formal requirements for them to share information.
Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, has urged Britain’s regulators to stop strangling firms with red tape and put in place measures to boost growth instead. The Treasury select committee, led by Dame Meg Hillier, had also raised concerns over the diversity plan and the burden on business.
Sam Woods, the PRA Chief Executive, said the contentious proposals clashed with Ms Reeves’s aims and would now be shelved.
In a letter to Dame Meg, he said: “There is a growing emphasis in our work on reducing regulatory burdens on firms while still delivering our objectives, and adding significant new requirements in this area could be seen as in tension with that approach.
“Given this, we do not currently plan to publish new rules on diversity and inclusion, and do not intend to return to this question until after the substantive implementation of any new legislation in this area.”
Under the PRA and FCA plans, companies would have been required to set diversity targets every year and link these to the pay of senior managers.
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