The House of Commons has been slammed for hiring a ‘Diversity and Inclusion Lead’ at a time when British taxpayers are being stretched to breaking point.
The diversity hire will earn a hefty £66,000 a year for 36 hours work a week with a gold-plated civil service pension with contributions of 28.97 per cent.
It means taxpayers will be paying £19,120 into the diversity lead’s pension every year, bringing the total remuneration to £85,000 a year.
This is despite the fact civil servant numbers have reached a twenty-year high and productivity is falling as managers battle to get people back into the office.
The shocking findings have prompted Chancellor Reeves to slash the number of civil servants by 10,000 in an effort to get the nation’s finances back on track, but critics warn this is not enough.
The new diversity lead will also receive a generous 30 days off a year, rising to 35 days after the first year of employment, in other words seven weeks off a year.
The day to day involves ‘promoting inclusion, addressing inequality, and becoming a workplace where everyone feels they can be themselves and can thrive’.
“The Inclusion and Diversity Lead is responsible for providing strategic advice and operational support to meet corporate goals, including delivery of our I&D Strategy,” adds the advert.
And in another bonus to office loathing civil servants, this job can be done mostly from home as it offers hybrid working.
However, there is no evidence on the job application of any contractual obligation to attend the office at all, or even an expectation.
Former Cabinet Minister Sir John Redwood, who spent 37 years as an MP, said: “This is a good example of the overmanning in the public sector with additional, well-paid managers whom we have managed without for many years.
“Why do they need a “Lead” when they have a Director? As this is about helping staff get on with each other, how can you do it partly from home?
“It is the job of all senior managers to select good people and promote harmony in the workforce. There is no need for this extra, expensive post.”
It is expected the new Diversity Lead will also be able to buy home office working equipment like a chair, laptop, iPad, keyboard, mouse, headphones and more all on the taxpayer as has been revealed countless times by freedom of information requests.
Civil servants also have access to government credit cards whereby they can spend taxpayer money on all manner of perks from coffee to axe throwing sessions, luxury away days, dry cleaning and catering from Fortnum and Mason, as was revealed in the Telegraph today.
However, its unclear whether the new Diversity Lead will have access to one of these credit cards.
The new job is being offered despite Labour’s acknowledgment the civil service has become bloated and inefficient, confirmed by Chancellor Reeves’ recent plans to slash 10,000 jobs from the service.
Latest analysis has revealed there are 546,000 civil servants in Britain, the highest number since 2006 when Tony Blair was Prime Minister.
A whopping 120,000 civil servants have been recruited in the last ten years alone, casting doubt over Reeves’ plans to cut 10,000 jobs as not enough.
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That means the work of George Osborne and David Cameron - who reduced the Civil Service headcount to 406,000, its lowest in modern times - has been completely reversed as officials were appointed in droves to deal with Brexit and Covid.
Despite these massive increases in staff numbers and the millions it is costing taxpayers every year, productivity has fallen according to the OBR.
Former minister for government efficiency Jacob Rees Mogg said: “Unfortunately, productivity has declined massively because of working from home.
“There are too many civil servants doing unnecessary things, publicity and PR departments, that sort of thing.
“There should be a lot more outsourcing, and people need to be back in the office. There’s an awful lot that AI can do now, such as summarising documents.”
Analysis by the taxpayer’s alliance put the cost of the Civil Service’s salaries at a staggering £19.7 billion for 2024.
This included 2,915 civil servants on salaries over £100,000, including scores of staff recruited to promote diversity, equality and inclusion.
Jacob Rees Mogg also took issue with this, stating: “All equality, diversity and inclusion staff should be got rid of straight away, just as [Donald] Trump is doing.
“We need to stop all the time they spend on pointless courses. When I was there, there was one called ‘Check Yo Privilege’. That sort of nonsense needs to stop.
“I’d encourage Reeves to be aggressive and reduce Civil Service numbers to get the savings that are needed.
“They won’t though because they are in hock to the unions.”
The House of Commons was approached for comment.
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The diversity hire will earn a hefty £66,000 a year for 36 hours work a week with a gold-plated civil service pension with contributions of 28.97 per cent.
It means taxpayers will be paying £19,120 into the diversity lead’s pension every year, bringing the total remuneration to £85,000 a year.
This is despite the fact civil servant numbers have reached a twenty-year high and productivity is falling as managers battle to get people back into the office.
Diversity and Inclusion Lead's responsibilities
The shocking findings have prompted Chancellor Reeves to slash the number of civil servants by 10,000 in an effort to get the nation’s finances back on track, but critics warn this is not enough.
The new diversity lead will also receive a generous 30 days off a year, rising to 35 days after the first year of employment, in other words seven weeks off a year.
The day to day involves ‘promoting inclusion, addressing inequality, and becoming a workplace where everyone feels they can be themselves and can thrive’.
“The Inclusion and Diversity Lead is responsible for providing strategic advice and operational support to meet corporate goals, including delivery of our I&D Strategy,” adds the advert.
And in another bonus to office loathing civil servants, this job can be done mostly from home as it offers hybrid working.
However, there is no evidence on the job application of any contractual obligation to attend the office at all, or even an expectation.
Former Cabinet Minister Sir John Redwood, who spent 37 years as an MP, said: “This is a good example of the overmanning in the public sector with additional, well-paid managers whom we have managed without for many years.
“Why do they need a “Lead” when they have a Director? As this is about helping staff get on with each other, how can you do it partly from home?
“It is the job of all senior managers to select good people and promote harmony in the workforce. There is no need for this extra, expensive post.”
It is expected the new Diversity Lead will also be able to buy home office working equipment like a chair, laptop, iPad, keyboard, mouse, headphones and more all on the taxpayer as has been revealed countless times by freedom of information requests.
Civil servants also have access to government credit cards whereby they can spend taxpayer money on all manner of perks from coffee to axe throwing sessions, luxury away days, dry cleaning and catering from Fortnum and Mason, as was revealed in the Telegraph today.
However, its unclear whether the new Diversity Lead will have access to one of these credit cards.
The new job is being offered despite Labour’s acknowledgment the civil service has become bloated and inefficient, confirmed by Chancellor Reeves’ recent plans to slash 10,000 jobs from the service.
Latest analysis has revealed there are 546,000 civil servants in Britain, the highest number since 2006 when Tony Blair was Prime Minister.
A whopping 120,000 civil servants have been recruited in the last ten years alone, casting doubt over Reeves’ plans to cut 10,000 jobs as not enough.
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That means the work of George Osborne and David Cameron - who reduced the Civil Service headcount to 406,000, its lowest in modern times - has been completely reversed as officials were appointed in droves to deal with Brexit and Covid.
Despite these massive increases in staff numbers and the millions it is costing taxpayers every year, productivity has fallen according to the OBR.
Former minister for government efficiency Jacob Rees Mogg said: “Unfortunately, productivity has declined massively because of working from home.
“There are too many civil servants doing unnecessary things, publicity and PR departments, that sort of thing.
“There should be a lot more outsourcing, and people need to be back in the office. There’s an awful lot that AI can do now, such as summarising documents.”
Analysis by the taxpayer’s alliance put the cost of the Civil Service’s salaries at a staggering £19.7 billion for 2024.
This included 2,915 civil servants on salaries over £100,000, including scores of staff recruited to promote diversity, equality and inclusion.
Jacob Rees Mogg also took issue with this, stating: “All equality, diversity and inclusion staff should be got rid of straight away, just as [Donald] Trump is doing.
“We need to stop all the time they spend on pointless courses. When I was there, there was one called ‘Check Yo Privilege’. That sort of nonsense needs to stop.
“I’d encourage Reeves to be aggressive and reduce Civil Service numbers to get the savings that are needed.
“They won’t though because they are in hock to the unions.”
The House of Commons was approached for comment.
Find Out More...