The Bank of England (BoE) is spending £645,424 a year on diversity, equity and inclusion hires, according to a freedom of information (FOI) request.
Currently 11.6 full time equivalent (FTE) staff are in such positions, including permanent staff and contractors, whose fees are not included in the figure.
Three months ago, it was revealed that the BoE had advised that people of any gender identity could be treated as pregnant.
Two years ago, an FOI request found that the Bank had spent nearly £27,000 on diversity consultants – who suggested minority employees were being held back by “microaggressions” and “unconscious bias”.
Sarah Guerra has been the Head of Culture, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the BoE since May 2022.
On an events page from May this year, she is said to be taking charge of a “new division” at the BoE, “shaping and leading their approach to culture, diversity and inclusion”.
Previously she was Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at King’s College London (KCL).
A university blog titled Diversity Digest describes a “day in the life” of Guerra, in which her weekly activities include: “quick check-ins to steer the development of our new microaggressions training” and discussions on “how to increase the pipeline of black academics and use Positive Action methodologies effectively and safely”.
Elsewhere she describes a meeting with KCL’s “Stonewall Account Manger” being an “absolute highlight” of her week, allowing her “to get the feedback from our recent entry to the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index”.
In BoE “Minutes of the Meeting of the Court of Directors”, from December 2022, Guerra introduces the “Annual Deep Dive – Court Review of Ethnic Diversity and Inclusion 2021 and 2022 Reporting”, where representatives emphasise that leaders and middle managers cannot “opt-out” of driving progress on diversity and inclusion targets.
‘Embedding psychological safety practices’
Neelu Agarwal, was the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) Head of Diversity Equity and Inclusion at the BoE until May this year and is now working in another department.
In an online “summit” led by EdenChase Associates, titled “Employee Psychological Safety, Anti-Racism, Belonging, Inclusion and Employee Well Being”, Agarwal is listed as the “first” in her role at the BoE, and is introduced as someone who will be “sharing her experiences around embedding psychological safety practices”.
Last month, Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the BoE, said “I really have no time for getting into the woke debate, whatever woke means”, months after Tory MPs complained he was “going for woke” rather than concentrating on his “day job”.
Approached for comment by The Telegraph, a BoE spokesperson said: “These roles help us to build a more diverse and inclusive workforce, ensuring the Bank’s 5000 employees are better able to deliver against our mission to maintain monetary and financial stability across the UK.”
‘Indulged in woke nonsense’
They pointed to the BoE’s Court Review of Ethnic Diversity and Inclusion, which they said Guerra and Agarwal were involved in.
Speaking of the findings, Rupert Lowe, Reform UK’s Business Spokesman, said: “The Bank of England, led by the incompetent Andrew Bailey, has utterly and objectively failed in its core mission of controlling inflation.
“Instead of a laser focus on maintaining monetary and financial stability, they have indulged in woke nonsense that would not look out of place in a students’ union. These diversity roles serve no useful purpose, in fact they actively disrupt the work of staff with purpose. Perhaps in the Bank’s case, that is no bad thing.
“We need serious people in charge at the Bank, not naive fools who don’t understand the consequences of relentless money-printing to fund unaffordable policies such as lockdowns.
“They should stand aside for qualified men and women who understand both basic biology and economics.”
