Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I am writing to request the following recorded information held by the council.
This request relates to expenditure on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, a matter of significant public interest in light of ongoing scrutiny regarding local authority budgets, service reductions, and compliance with statutory obligations such as the Equality Act 2010.
1. Budgets for DEI Roles/Officers (Financial Years 2022/23 to 2025/26):
Please provide details of total expenditure on dedicated DEI roles (e.g. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Officers, Diversity Leads, EDI Managers, or equivalent specialist posts – excluding general HR roles).
For each financial year (2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25, and 2025/26), please include:
• The number of roles (in full-time equivalents/FTEs);
• Average salaries and total payroll costs.
Please supply this data in an electronic format, preferably as a CSV or Excel file.
2. DEI Training Costs (e.g. Unconscious Bias Training, 2022–2025):
Please provide an itemised breakdown of costs for DEI-related training, including sessions such as unconscious bias workshops, equity/inclusion training, e-learning modules, or externally facilitated programmes.
For each year (2022–2025), please specify:
• Whether the training was delivered internally or by external providers;
• The number of staff trained;
• The total expenditure per year.
If available, please also include up to five anonymised sample invoices or contracts in electronic format (costs in CSV/Excel; invoices in PDF).