Though often arising from the best intentions, in recent years Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in businesses has moved beyond traditional conceptions of non-discrimination and meritocratic advancement to embrace a wide range of initiatives, regulatory requirements and principles. These can impose significant costs on businesses and their staff, reduce productivity, create division and are often actively deleterious to the challenges they are purportedly there to solve.

Detailed new analysis from Policy Exchange exposes how businesses have come under pressure from activist groups, staff networks, regulators and courts to adopt radical EDI policies and develops a taxonomy of the differing ways in which firms may face additional costs due to EDI policies, including reporting and compliance, anti-meritocratic job matching, staff networks and the direct and indirect costs of training.

In a Foreword to the report, Andrew Griffith MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade, writes ‘The report correctly asserts that a correction of the balance between regulation and corporate autonomy on EDI is sorely needed. Its detailed recommendations are essential reading for any politician who wishes to put businesses, large and small, back in charge of their own destiny.’

The report calls for systematic and comprehensive reforms to put business back in the driving seat including:

• Extensive reform of the Equality Act by repealing the Public Sector Equality Duty, removing the clauses that permit ‘positive action’ and tightening up the rules on equal pay to prevent abuse.
• Abolishing all EDI requirements in public procurement.
• Directing every regulator to review their guidance and revise and repeal all elements that promote EDI activities beyond core duties of non discrimination.
• Scrapping all regulatory requirements for identity-based targets on boards.
• Abolishing diversity requirements in advertising, broadcasting and other regulated industries.

The launch of this report was covered by:

• The Times (1)
• The Times (2)
• The Times (3)
• BBC Radio 4 World at One
• The Telegraph
• City A.M.
• POLITICO’s London Playbook
• GB News
• Times Radio
• EasternEye
• Personnel Today
• Business Matters
• The Daily Sceptic