Britain’s largest police force will soon spend £5.2 million on diversity roles despite cutting 1,700 officers and staff to plug a massive budget shortfall, it has been revealed.
The Metropolitan Police said it is carrying out a recruitment process in its Culture, Diversity and Inclusion unit, which will soon be formed of 64 members of staff, according to figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request.
The force said the current spend on these roles is £3.2 million, though the running cost will be increased to £5.2 million once the recruitment process is completed.
This does not include “any other posts that may lead / be involved in EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion) related activity across other business areas”, meaning the true cost of diversity programmes across the Met is likely significantly higher.
Dozens of Staff Networks
The Met Police meanwhile has dozens of support networks available to staff, including the He For She gender equality movement and Bisexual Support Group.
Among the events featured on its diversity calendar this year are International Pronouns Day, Pansexual and Panromantic Awareness Day and Be Kind to Humankind Week.
The extensive programme of awareness days and staff networks has drawn criticism from taxpayer groups who argue the money would be better spent on frontline policing.
William Yarwood, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said the force should “scrap the gimmicks and get back to basics”.
“It’s staggering that while Londoners are seeing stations shut and frontline police services cut, the Met still finds millions to bankroll a sprawling diversity bureaucracy,” Mr Yarwood told the Daily Mail.
“Taxpayers expect bobbies on the beat, not endless networks, awareness weeks and ‘life event’ managers.”
£260 Million Budget Shortfall
The Met Police is the UK’s biggest police force, taking 25 per cent of the total police budget for England and Wales, according to its website.
Earlier this year, it announced it would axe services to plug a £260 million budget shortfall despite receiving funding increases from central and local government.
The force said it would cut 1,700 officers and staff even after securing £32 million of additional funding from City Hall and the Home Office following submission of its draft budget, which laid out how money would be spent in 2025/26.
The decision to increase spending on diversity roles whilst simultaneously cutting frontline officers has sparked fury amongst critics who argue the force has its priorities completely backwards.
Mayor Blames Previous Government
Sir Sadiq Khan earlier blamed the funding crisis on the previous Conservative government rather than acknowledging questions about spending priorities.
“The previous government chronically underfunded the Met,” the London Mayor said in a statement in April.
“That’s why I’m announcing a record £1.16 billion annual investment in the police from City Hall. This historic increase will protect neighbourhood policing in our communities and significantly reduce the level of cuts the Met had been planning.”
However, the revelation that diversity spending is increasing whilst officer numbers fall has undermined the Mayor’s argument that the cuts are purely a consequence of central government underfunding.
Public Safety Concerns
The cuts to frontline policing come as London continues to struggle with high levels of crime including knife violence, theft and antisocial behaviour.
Londoners have expressed frustration at the closure of local police stations, reduced police visibility in neighbourhoods, and long response times to emergency calls.
The decision to prioritise diversity roles over officers on the street has reinforced perceptions that the Metropolitan Police has lost sight of its core mission to prevent and detect crime.
Critics argue that whilst diversity and inclusion initiatives may have some value, they should not be funded at the expense of operational policing capabilities.
Wider Police Funding Debate
The controversy over Met Police spending priorities reflects broader debates about police funding and resource allocation across England and Wales.
Police forces nationwide have faced budget pressures in recent years, with many reducing officer numbers, closing stations and cutting specialist units.
However, the continued growth of diversity and inclusion departments whilst frontline services are reduced has become a flashpoint in discussions about what police forces should prioritise.
Supporters of diversity initiatives argue they help improve police culture, increase recruitment from underrepresented groups and build trust with diverse communities.
Critics contend that the programmes have become bloated, achieve little of tangible value and divert resources from the primary function of catching criminals and keeping communities safe.
TaxPayers’ Alliance Criticism
The TaxPayers’ Alliance has been particularly vocal in criticising what it describes as wasteful spending on diversity programmes across the public sector.
The campaign group argues that taxpayers expect police forces to focus resources on visible policing, investigating crimes and bringing offenders to justice rather than awareness days and staff networks.
Mr Yarwood’s comments about “endless networks, awareness weeks and ‘life event’ managers” reflect wider public scepticism about whether diversity roles represent good value for money.
The group has called on the Metropolitan Police to conduct a comprehensive review of spending priorities and redirect funds from administrative roles to frontline policing.
Met Police Response
The Metropolitan Police has defended its diversity and inclusion work as essential to improving organisational culture and building public trust.
The force has faced multiple scandals in recent years including racism, misogyny and sexual misconduct amongst officers, which diversity programmes are intended to address.
A Met Police spokesperson might argue that investing in culture change is necessary to prevent future scandals and improve the force’s effectiveness.
However, the optics of increasing diversity spending whilst cutting officers during a crime crisis presents a significant public relations challenge for the force.
The £5.2 million figure for the Culture, Diversity and Inclusion unit alone could fund approximately 100 additional police constables based on average salary costs.
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Indigo Nolan — Palestine Action Protest, London, Saturday 6th September (6 Sept 2025), licensed under CC BY 4.0. (commons.wikimedia.org)
