Scouts to employ a diversity officer on £75,000-a-year even though organisation has faced criticism over wokery and transgender activism

The Scouts are to pay £75,000 a year to employ an equity, diversity and inclusion boss amid concern over wokery and transgender activism.

The hefty salary was disclosed in an advert posted on the Scouts website which says they are looking for their next ‘Head of EDI’ to manage a team of nine and work a 35-hour week, potentially from home, ‘with regular travel’.

But critics have questioned whether the Scouts should spend such a large amount of resources on the role following concerns that EDI is being used to spread trans activist ideas within the organisation.

Maya Forstater, chief executive of feminist campaign group Sex Matters, who was previously an assistant Cub Scout leader, said: ‘The Scouts have real issue in terms of class, race and religion to some extent because traditionally they are white middle class.

‘So they are trying to open up inclusion to groups of other kids, which is absolutely right and it does take work.

‘But at the same time they have gone wild on the issue of gender identity. They are doing what everyone else is doing and as soon as you wave a rainbow flag they forget about safeguarding issues and their policies on trans kids are all ‘affirm, affirm, affirm’.

‘All of that is driven by a combination of EDI, people at headquarters and the gay, lesbian and trans Scouts group.’

This latest EDI vacancy follows the Scouts announcing on networking website LinkedIn last August that they were recruiting eight new EDI staff.

The Scouts have previously faced criticism for introducing a ‘trans fun badge’ for children as young as four, alongside a ‘bisexual fun badge’, a ‘lesbian fun badge’ and a ‘Pride fun badge’.

The organisation also came under fire for issuing a guide banning children from using the terms ‘falling on deaf ears’, ‘man-made’ and ‘dinner ladies’.

In Britain, the Scouts are funded through membership fees, donations and grants.

A Scouts spokesman said: ‘Keeping young people safe is our priority.

‘We have a national safeguarding team with robust procedures and training in place that puts young people first and which everyone at the Scouts must follow.’