The competition regulator has rebuffed pressure from ministers to join a growing number of government bodies quitting Stonewall’s diversity scheme – despite admitting that some staff were “concerned” by comments made by the charity’s chief executive.

The Competition and Markets Authority is understood to have insisted on continuing its membership of the equality charity’s “diversity champions” programme in the face of political pressure to quit the scheme over its value for money.

Following the intervention of Lord Callanan, the business minister, The Telegraph understands that the Insolvency Service and the Coal Authority have joined bodies such as the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), BBC, Cabinet Office and Ministry of Justice in ending their subscriptions.

Their decisions came after the Cabinet Office said that departments should not routinely use “external assurance and benchmarking organisations”.

‘Stonewall offered valuable advice’

But Andrea Coscelli, the CMA’s chief executive, has insisted that the regulator will retain its subscription to the scheme, for which it pays £3,000 per year.

Dr Coscelli is understood to have insisted that Stonewall has provided the body with valuable advice and said the decision to remain signed up to the programme was signed off by the CMA’s board.

But he admitted to BEIS that remarks by Nancy Kelley, Stonewall’s chief executive, in June 2021 had offended Jewish and disabled staff. 

Ms Kelley was accused of effectively likening “gender-critical beliefs” – that sex is biological and cannot be changed – to anti-Semitism and discrimination against disabled people.

A CMA spokesman said: “The CMA is committed to an inclusive and respectful working environment for all our staff. We are a member of the Stonewall Diversity Champions programme but we do not endorse every comment made by individuals at Stonewall, just as we would not do so for any other organisation with which we have a relationship.

“We keep all our memberships and accreditations under regular review.”

A Government source claimed that bodies such as the CMA viewed their participation in Stonewall’s scheme, which publishes diversity rankings of public and private bodies, as “almost a woke validation of how diverse these bodies are”. Its advice has included guidance on pronouns and gender-neutral facilities.

‘Stop handing out taxpayer money’

The source added: “We shouldn’t be handing out taxpayers’ money to a woke campaigning organisation. They are perfectly entitled to campaign for this nonsense but not to do so with taxpayers’ money.”

Stonewall claims that inclusion in its workplace equality index makes organisations more attractive to prospective employees. But the scheme costs thousands of pounds to join and some of its recommendations have attracted controversy. 

Stonewall itself, which was founded to oppose section 28 which banned the promotion of homosexuality in schools, has clashed with women’s groups over its focus on campaigning on transgender rights.

Lord Callanan wrote to the remaining bodies overseen by BEIS that still subscribed to the scheme, stating that, “following significant concern about their activities, BEIS has decided not to renew its membership of Stonewall’s diversity champions programme”. 

He asked each body to set out their “justification for this subscription, including value for money”.

A Stonewall spokesman said: “Our Diversity Champions programme focuses on helping organisations to build an LGBTQ+ inclusive workplace for their employees. Our research shows that over a third of LGBTQ+ people still hide who they are at work for fear of discrimination.

“Workplace inclusion can be life-changing for LGBTQ+ people, and this impact should not be dismissed as ‘woke’.”