Reform wants to cut council diversity roles. The problem is there are already barely any
Councils run by Reform UK have an average of fewer than 0.5 diversity and equality roles each, it has emerged, calling into question the party’s stated aim to save significant sums of money by cutting such jobs.According to freedom of information requests, across the 10 Reform-run English councils there was a combined 4.56 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs connected to equality and diversity, not including roles required by law such as those for inclusion in education, including for pupils with disabilities.Even using an assumed average full-time salary of £50,000, cutting all the roles would save the Reform-run councils slightly less than 0.
003% of their combined budget.Reform won more than 670 seats in May’s local elections across England, taking control of 10 councils.Celebrating his party’s success at a rally the next day, Nigel Farage said staff at these councils working on diversity had “all better really be seeking alternative careers very, very quickly”.Before the elections, Farage and other senior Reform figures repeatedly talked up the amount that could be saved by cutting diversity and inclusion roles, modelling their ambitions on efforts to slash US government diversity initiatives by Elon Musk’s so-called “department of government efficiency” or Doge.One much-repeated figure was that cutting such schemes in central government could save £7bn a year.
Official statistics show the actual amount spent in 2022-23, the last year for which figures were available, was £27m.Reform UK said the £7bn figure came from sums compiled in 2022 by a rightwing thinktank, Conservative Way Forward.However, this also covered government budgets for any charities and quangos that carried out what the report saw as “woke” activities.Asked by the BBC shortly after the local elections how much money Reform could save from councils by cutting diversity efforts, the party’s then-chair, Zia Yusuf, was slightly vague.He hinted that some authorities had tried to hide equalities roles by giving them to “other people who have basically that same job but under a different title”.
Last month Yusuf resigned as chair after a row about one of the party’s MPs calling for a ban on burqas.Two days later he returned to Reform as head of its own self-styled “Doge” team intent on finding council savings.Since then, Yusuf has said little about equalities initiatives, beyond praising Reform-run Durham council for “renaming several key departments to remove references to climate change and equality and inclusion”.Durham has 1.8 full-time-equivalent diversity roles, but said that these were all connected to duties required by law.
In June he said Kent council, also now run by Reform, had spent nearly £90m a year on “a contract for recruitment services”, saying this was 22% of their annual payroll.However, this was not a contract but a framework for a national public sector recruitment system operated by Kent, with critics suggesting this showed Yusuf did not understand procurement systems.Potential savings within councils are limited by the fact that for most county-level authorities, most of their budget goes on duties mandated by law, including adult social care and children’s services.Reform UK was contacted for comment.The councils it controls are Derbyshire, Doncaster, Durham, Kent, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, North Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and West Northamptonshire.
Amanda Hopgood, the Liberal Democrat opposition leader on Durham council, who heads the party’s “Reform watch” group, said: “Reform’s Doge programme makes a mockery of what it is supposed to achieve,They are more concerned with stoking division than actually saving councils any money,”
Microdosing: how ‘off-label’ use of weight loss jabs is spreading from US to UK
A slim woman standing in a kitchen injects herself in the abdomen. Another jogs. A third kneels on a yoga mat drinking water. The shots are intercut with a doctor telling the viewer: “Usually it’s for people who don’t actually have that much to lose – it’s a bit of a gentler way to get to your target weight.”The promotional video is from a private clinic in Leicester offering “microdosing”, the latest trend in the weight loss jab revolution
Thames Water spent £136m on securing emergency funding, leaked document suggests
Thames Water spent at least £136m on the effort to secure emergency funding over 12 months, according to a leaked document that suggests costs outstripped the £130m the struggling utility paid in fines.The law firms Linklaters and Akin Gump received £45m and £26m respectively during the financial year to March 2025, and another 10 firms were paid more than £1m, according to a document listing “atypical expenditure” for the year, seen by the Guardian. It is the first time the fees paid by Thames Water have been detailed publicly.The water company scrambled in the last year to secure emergency funding to avoid temporary nationalisation as it struggled under a £20bn debt pile. That effort led to a court showdown in January and February to force losses on some debt holders in exchange for up to £3bn of rescue cash to see it through this year
Rachel Reeves expected to review pensions auto-enrolment
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is expected to trigger a review of the auto-enrolment pension scheme next week in a move that could ultimately force employers to raise their contributions to staff retirement pots.The announcement could come as early as Monday, forming a key part of the Labour government’s pensions review, industry sources told the Guardian.It is expected to be one of a raft of changes outlined in Reeves’ Mansion House speech, which will detail the government’s financial services strategy to City bosses on Tuesday evening.The review, led by the Department for Work and Pensions, will explore raising auto-enrolment contributions from the current level of 8% of worker earnings, with employees currently paying in 5% and the employer adding 3%. The consultation was put on hold last year amid concerns that it would upset businesses already reeling from a rise in employer national insurance contributions announced in Reeves’ autumn budget
Car finance: Drivers using claims firms could face 36% add-on charge on compensation payouts
Adverts claiming consumers could be entitled to compensation for mis-sold car finance are popping up everywhere. “You could be owed thousands … File your car finance claim today” is a typical call to action.With only weeks to go, however, until we find out whether there could be payouts for millions of people, there are warnings that signing up with a claims management company (CMC) could be a bad idea.The payment protection insurance (PPI) debacle led to claims firms pocketing billions of pounds of the compensation paid to victims, and it seems some are keen to cash in on this latest consumer issue.It has been said the scandal could result in a £44bn bill for lenders, and this week a survey revealed that more than 23 million people believe they could be due some compensation for a mis-sold car loan
HSBC becomes first UK bank to quit industry’s net zero alliance
HSBC has become the first UK bank to leave the global banking industry’s net zero target-setting group, as campaigners warned it was a “troubling” sign over the lender’s commitment to tackling the climate crisis.The move risks triggering further departures from the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) by UK banks, in a fresh blow to international climate coordination efforts.HSBC’s decision follows a wave of exits by big US banks in the run-up to Donald Trump’s inauguration in January. His return to the White House has spurred a climate backlash as he pushes for higher production of oil and gas.HSBC was a founding member of the NZBA at its launch in 2021, with the bank’s then chief executive, Noel Quinn, saying it was vital to “establish a robust and transparent framework for monitoring progress” towards net zero carbon-emission targets
Supersize me: recreating Pret’s £13 miso salmon super plate at home
This week Pret a Manger sparked uproar when it launched a range of new supersized salads. It came as a response to what Pret said was a “shift in what customers want from lunch”, though possibly not from their wallet, with the premium salads priced £10-£13.But how good are they? And is it right that they cost that much? I set off to recreate the miso salmon super plate at home. It’s fun copying the ingredients off the back of a packet to come up with a recipe. With the miso salmon plate, I’m impressed by the original: the plate looks very pretty, and the lightly smoked salmon fillet has an excellent texture
Watch the Skies to Wet Leg: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead
The Guide #198: Such Brave Girls shows that grown-up gross-out comedy is thriving
‘What should be taught in schools?’: the infamous ‘Scopes monkey trial’ turns 100
Comedian Paul Smith: ‘People get disappointed when they meet me in real life. I’m really quiet’
Clash of cultures: exhibition tells story of when Vikings ruled the north of England
Notting Hill carnival to go ahead this year after £1m funding boost