Sadiq Khan has splurged an astonishing £250,000 of taxpayers’ funds on diversity training for external staff, with the figure potentially being “far higher” when accounting for all employees of the Greater London Authority (GLA).
The eyewatering sum, a total of bungs handed out year-on-year, was revealed following the submission of a written question by London Conservatives leader Susan Hall.
In his response, Mr Khan confirmed that the spending on diversity training has, so far, topped £253,967 since he entered office in 2016.
Expanding further, City Hall confirmed that diversity training was considered a part of “core responsibilities and is absorbed within existing roles” for internal GLA staff.
Therefore, they informed that they “do not record the costs associated with training delivered internally”.
As such, the actual spend on diversity training for authority staff across the capital could be far higher.
Ms Hall’s inquiry also revealed the yearly totals of diversity spending for external staff, which have skyrocketed since Sir Sadiq took office almost a decade ago.
In 2016 and 2017, the spend totalled a relatively modest £8,400 and £4,993.
Sadiq Khan’s office has shelled out £250,000 of taxpayers’ cash on external staff diversity training
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However, the figure would grow to £25,809 the following year.
Diversity training spending reached its peak in 2020, with an astonishing £57,077 of taxpayers’ cash being used on the drives.
In the years following, spending came to £45,452 before being gradually reduced to £25,629 in 2024.
However, the total has begun to trend upwards once more, with the GLA shelling out £39,660 over 2025, per Guido Fawkes.
The funding has skyrocketed since Sir Sadiq took office in 2016
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It comes as the Metropolitan Police was revealed to be planning to spend £5.2million annually to fund 64 diversity and inclusion positions.
The force maintains what has been described as a “diversity calendar” featuring 63 separate events throughout the year, including observances such as International Pronouns Day, Pansexual and Panromantic Awareness Day, Be Kind To Humankind Week, and National Tsunami Awareness Week.
Beyond the calendar, Scotland Yard operates 47 staff support networks covering a range of groups, among them a Bisexual Support Group, the He For She gender equality movement, and a Borderline Personality Disorder network.
The force also runs 19 associations catering to different ethnic backgrounds, including Ibero-American, Polish, Italian, Slavic and Romanian staff members,” the Daily Mail reports.
The TaxPayers’ Alliance has urged the Met to abandon what it considers unnecessary initiatives and refocus on core policing duties.
William Yarwood of the campaign group said: “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.”
“Taxpayers expect bobbies on the beat, not endless networks, awareness weeks and ‘life event’ managers.”
