Britain's largest police force will soon spend £5.2million on diversity roles, it has been revealed.
The Metropolitan Police said it is carrying out a recruitment process in its Culture, Diversity and Inclusion unit, which will soon be formed of 64 members of staff, according to figures obtained by a Freedom of Information request.
The force said the current spend of these roles is £3.2million, though the running cost will be upped to £5.2million once the recruitment process is completed.
This does not include "any other posts that may lead / be involved in EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion) related activity across other business areas".
The Met Police meanwhile has dozens of support networks available to staff, including the He For She gender equality movement and Bisexual Support Group.
Among the events featured on its diversity calendar this year are International Pronouns Day, Pansexual and Panromantic Awareness Day and Be Kind to Humankind Week.
William Yarwood, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said the force should "scrap the gimmicks and get back to basics".
"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," Mr Yarwood told the Daily Mail.
The Metropolitan Police has said it will soon spend £5.2million on its Culture, Diversity and Inclusion unit
| PA"Taxpayers expect bobbies on the beat, not endless networks, awareness weeks and 'life event' managers."
The Met Police is the UK's biggest police force, taking 25 per cent of the total police budget for England and Wales, according to its website.
Earlier this year, it announced it would axe services to plug a £260million budget shortfall.
The force said it would cut 1,700 officers and staff, despite receiving funding increases from central and local government.
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The Met Police is the UK's biggest police force
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It secured £32million of additional funding from City Hall and the Home Office after submitting its draft budget, which laid out how money would be spent in 2025/26.
Sir Sadiq Khan earlier blamed the funding crisis on the previous Conservative Government.
“The previous Government chronically underfunded the Met,” the London Mayor said in a statement in April
“That’s why I’m announcing a record £1.16billion annual investment in the police from City Hall.
“This historic increase will protect neighbourhood policing in our communities and significantly reduce the level of cuts the Met had been planning.”