Overview

• Cabinet Office audit found the central Civil Service spent £27.1 million on equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives in 2022-23.
• The review identified 350 full-time EDI staff and 570 diversity networks with 2,965 committee members costing taxpayers £534,000 alongside £800,000 on external benchmarking.
• Reform UK has vowed to eliminate public sector DEI spending if elected, arguing such budgets conflict with meritocratic principles.
• Ministers plan to cut around 50,000 Civil Service roles by 2030 as part of efforts to streamline operations and reduce expenditure.
• A Policy Exchange report urges deeper cuts of 80,000 positions to secure roughly £5 billion in annual savings.