Organisations Leaving Stonewall: The List

Powys Teaching Health Board/Bwrdd lechyd Addysgu Powys say it isn't currently (to be fair they haven't answered some questions clearly) and hasn't been but
PTHB may explore options to join the Stonewall membership or another scheme in the future once the pressures of the pandemic have eased.

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/727851/response/1743339/attach/html/2/FINAL%20Response%20to%20requestor%20FOI%20058.pdf.html

Monmouthshire County Council is pretty unclear and didn't really answer the questions as posed but unless they're being disingenuous they're not SW members nor Diversity Champions:

We did not make an application to Stonewall in 2019 or 2020. There
has been no contact with Stonewall.

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/information_about_your_dealings_778#incoming-1754944

Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is not a SW member or Diversity Champion:

The trust is not currently a member of Stonewall and has no plans to be so in the foreseeable future. The trust undertakes a range of actions, accreditations and memberships to support LGBT+ staff, patients and visitors…

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/726044/response/1733907/attach/html/2/FOI%205902%20Response.pdf.html

London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham don't describe any association with SW.
Whether you intend to continue your membership of any Stonewall scheme in the future, and if so which.
N/A

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/724719/response/1744899/attach/html/2/Response%20all%20information%20to%20be%20supplied.pdf.html

Warwickshire County Council
Not applicable. Warwickshire County Council did not make any applications during 2019 or 2020 to be a Stonewall Diversity Champion.

Q6 Whether you intend to continue your membership of any Stonewall scheme in the future, and if so which.
Not applicable. Warwickshire County Council does not hold a Stonewall membership.

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/723973/response/1722049/attach/html/2/Response%20all%20information%20to%20be%20supplied.pdf.html

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service has not been a member since 2018 and their answer to Q6 is No, we have no intention of [SW] membership.

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/725274/response/1727737/attach/html/3/Final%20Response%20FOI4239.pdf.html

NHS Digital says We do not currently have any plans to continue our Stonewall membership.

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/725502/response/1737841/attach/html/3/NIC%20434703%20H5B6M.pdf.html

@CardinalLolzy good idea, see you over there!

Oxleas Foundation Trust says it's not a SW Diversity Champion:

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/information_about_your_dealings_588#incoming-1732786

Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust does not intend to renew its membership:

At this current time with the pressures of the membership of any Stonewall scheme in the pandemic we do not feel that renewing our future, and if so which membership with Stonewall would be a justifiable use of Public Funding.

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/725837/response/1735298/attach/html/2/FOI%202829%20Response%20Letter.pdf.html

Maritime and Coastguard Agency is interesting - it hasn't made an application in its own right to SW because it's covered by the Dept. of Transport. It's listed on SW but I'm uncertain about its status.

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/724369/response/1738319/attach/html/2/FOI%203631.doc.html

Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue haven't been members since 2019:

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/725270/response/1737768/attach/html/4/FoI2021077%20response.docx.html

Southamptom Solent University is not a member and hasn't been for the period covered in the FOI:

Solent University can confirm that it has not made any applications or payments to Stonewall for the periods stated above. Therefore, the answers to the above questions are NIL.

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/information_about_your_dealings_212#incoming-1740087

Just checked the archive list - it's dated 2015 so well out of date. I wonder why they didn't produce an updated version in the intervening years.

If you are doing SexMatters letters I do recommend trying to look through the EDI policy of your target organisation. I've found it much more time consuming than I had expected, but given that two of my five organisations are wrongly listing gender as a protected characteristic it's worth checking for that to point it out in your cover letter.

Greenwood Academies Trust ended in 2020:

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/724870/response/1781144/attach/html/2/FOI%20Response%20Stonewall.docx.html

Iirc The list was somewhat out of date anyway. Could it be that quite a few organisations have woken up to what an onerous burden the championship scheme is and have quietly removed themselves?(Possibly not updating stationary meanwhile - looking at you University of Bedfordshire). So Stonewall didn't bother to update the list to reflect falling numbers?

I did four letters yesterday. I was shocked to see MacMillan and Marie Curie on the list so planned to write to them too. I have spent some considerable time this evening looking through their websites. I can't find any reference to Stonewall anywhere in the Macmillan website, nor can I find their diversity policy. On the other hand Marie curie erroneously list gender instead of sex as a protected characteristic (the second of my chosen target organisations to do so) and in their most recent annual report they proudly announce they have just joined the Stonewall Diversity Scheme. I'll be writing tomorrow.

[quote justawoman]Here’s an archive link for the Telegraph article:

archive.is/XpEMe[/quote]
A Stonewall spokesperson said: “We strongly refute any suggestion that we instructed Garden Court Chambers to investigate or take action against Allison Bailey, and believe these allegations are baseless”.

Earlier in the article there's a giant quote from the email Stonewall sent to Garden Court Chambers, warning them about the risks if they "continue to associate" with Alison Bailey.

I guess barefaced denial of reality is the only trick they've got?

Golly no wonder they've pulled that list from their website....

Are there some names listed there that haven't actually been members for some time? I realise the list came from Stonewall's list so there could be a fair few on there who aren't actually Diversity Champions and haven't been for some time?

If Stonewall are adding companies/orgs etc who aren't actually DCs it shows them up further.

North Lanarkshire Council hasn't been a Stonewall Diversity Champion or member since 2018:

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/information_about_your_dealings_202

Sex Matters lists:

NHS Highland withdrew 2019: twitter.com/SexMattersOrg/status/1399842763131269122

The Post Office did not renew it's membership this year 😂

twitter.com/SexMattersOrg/status/1399845411834191874?s=19

The prospect of losing a mahoosive income stream, which must pay for dozens of jobs reading through all the 1400 pages of documents for just one member of the champions scheme, will make them fight for survival.

They won't go quietly.

The hypocrisy...

Stonewall @stonewalluk

"The institutions that should protect us – our governments, communities, faith institutions, and families – too often stand silent, or actively harm us. #PrideMonth"

2:11 pm · 1 Jun 2021·Twitter Web App

The list is being updated here too, showing names crossed out
sex-matters.org/stonewall-champions-list/

Sorry meant to add lesbians also massively under represented.

Note on data: based on anonymous staff survey re: LGBT status done as a precursor to the the new rainbow policies.

Data on other protected characteristics available as "standard" on the HR system.

So when this happened in my former workplace I did the following (but in disclosure I was a very senior with the support of the only other female director at the time):

• I emailed the Head of HR asking what the basis for this new initiative was, specifically asking for data on what the levels of pro-rata population diversity in the company was for all protected characteristics.

• Got a dismal reply. Asked the same question again copying in my Exec Line Manager asserting my interest in the matter as belonging to at least one protected group (by virtue of sex) and that I was very interested to understand the data and mechanisms being used to support ALL protected characteristics.

• Finally got shown data (on the quiet) by my Exec boss. Low and behold - exactly what a walk around the multiple offices, in 3 continents in a tech industry organisation could have told you. That gay men and TW were statistically massively over represented. BAME just about on target until you dig deeper and find a massive under representation of black employees. Woman massively under represented and within that Black women especially so (also not one TM in the org). The inequality was also markedly worse the higher in seniority you filtered results.

• Upshot the whole thing quietly went away.

Data and sunlight.....

That's not strictly true. It's a regulated company with a defined public service remit.

In a way it walks a fine line between a public sector organisation and a private company and as such is like the former subject to judicial review I believe (example: https://www.5rb.com/case/traveller-movement-v-ofcom-channel-4/).

Happy to be corrected if I'm wrong.

From Wikipedia:

Channel 4 was established with, and continues to hold, a remit of public service obligations which it must fulfil. The remit changes periodically, as dictated by various broadcasting and communications acts, and is regulated by the various authorities Channel 4 has been answerable to; originally the IBA, then the ITC and now Ofcom.
The preamble of the remit as per the Communications Act 2003 states that:
"The public service remit for Channel 4 is the provision of a broad range of high quality and diverse programming which, in particular:
• demonstrates innovation, experiment and creativity in the form and content of programmes;
• appeals to the tastes and interests of a culturally diverse society;
• makes a significant contribution to meeting the need for the licensed public service channels to include programmes of an educational nature and other programmes of educative value; and
• exhibits a distinctive character."[12][28]
The remit also involves an obligation to provide programming for schools,[29] and a substantial amount of programming produced outside of Greater London.[30]