It’s now a running series on Guido to point out how much taxpayer money the NHS splurges on pointless diversity and inclusion managers. Since the last story just over three weeks ago, four more of these roles have popped up on the NHS job board. Whoever grabs the top gig, the new ‘Head of Equalities’, will rake in up to £90,387 a year…

Every time one of these stories is published, someone in the comments below inevitably claims the Equality Act 2010 necessitates the appointments – as though the government is powerless to stop more and more well remunerated diversity tsars spawning all over England for the rest of time. Those who make this argument typically cite the public sector equality duty (PSED), which says public bodies must

“have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between different people when carrying out their activities.”

It doesn’t say this requires whole teams of dedicated diversity and inclusion staff collecting top salaries courtesy of the taxpayer. Practically all the responsibilities legally required in the Equality Act could – and should – be absorbed into an existing HR department’s remit…

Two weeks ago, Rishi announced he would chair a new “Efficiency and Value for Money Committee” that plans to cut £5.5 billion worth of waste across the public sector, with a specific promise to double the NHS’s efficiency commitment to 2.2% a year. Guido hears there’s some enthusiasm in Whitehall to take aim at these ridiculous positions, although there’s still nothing concrete as of yet. Time to get to work. This does not require legislation, it simply requires the bureaucracy to be directed to do so by ministers with political will…