Effort Launched to Boost Diversity within Honours Awards Programme
The UK is set to witness a transformation in its honours system with the introduction of a new committee aimed at promoting inclusivity and diversity among award recipients. The committee, known as the "diversity and outreach committee," has been created by the Cabinet Office to broaden the scope of nominations and ensure that individuals from various communities are recognised for their contributions.
The committee, chaired independently by Moni Mannings OBE, brings together a diverse group of experts from each of the ten independent honours committees. This integration of sector-specific expertise will ensure that diverse perspectives shape recommendations for a more equitable honours system.
Moni Mannings, a renowned figure in diversity advocacy and corporate governance, has been appointed as the independent chair of this new committee. In a statement, Mannings emphasised the importance of recognising excellence from all walks of life: "Recognising excellence from all walks of life isn't just a symbolic act - it is how we tell our national story."
The goal of the new committee is to make the honours system more representative of UK society by promoting and celebrating excellence from all walks of life through policy improvements, targeted outreach, and publicity efforts. It aims to assist the existing honours committees in delivering a more inclusive and diverse range of award recipients that reflect the full richness of British society.
Looking to the future, the committee will operate under the strategic priorities set by the Prime Minister for the honours system and provide ongoing advice on how these priorities are reflected in each honours list. It will work through a programme of policy improvements and specific interventions to address disparities in nominations and awards, targeted regional and sectoral outreach to engage underrepresented groups, and providing expert advice to both the independent honours committees and government departments on diversity and inclusion matters.
Recent studies have highlighted significant disparities within the UK's honours system, with over 60% of recipients of prestigious awards, such as the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) and knighthoods, residing in London and the southeast, despite this area constituting only 27% of the UK's population. The new committee's goal is to address this imbalance and ensure a more equitable distribution of awards.
The new committee is part of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's initiatives to make the honours system more reflective of the entire UK. By focusing on merit-based recognition that transcends socio-economic backgrounds, the committee will encourage nominations from underrepresented regions and groups, offering guidance to existing honours committees and the government.
Notable figures like Billy Boston, a notable figure in rugby league, who received a knighthood earlier this year, have addressed historical concerns about the recognition of accomplishments in certain sports. The new committee's approach to addressing disparities involves a combination of policy reform, enhanced outreach to marginalized communities across regions and sectors, transparent advisory functions, and alignment with government diversity goals. This structured, multi-faceted strategy aims to correct historic imbalances and make the honours system more equitable and reflective of contemporary UK society.
In summary, the committee’s approach to addressing disparities involves a combination of policy reform, enhanced outreach to marginalized communities across regions and sectors, transparent advisory functions, and alignment with government diversity goals. This structured, multi-faceted strategy aims to correct historic imbalances and make the honours system more equitable and reflective of contemporary UK society.
- Moni Mannings, the independent chair of the diversity and outreach committee, aims to use her expertise in diversity advocacy and corporate governance to bring a focus on finance matters, advocating for a more inclusive and diverse representation of business leaders in the honours system.
- Through policy improvements, targeted outreach, and publicity efforts, the diversity and outreach committee plans to encourage nominations of individuals from various backgrounds and sectors, thereby creating a more equitable business environment reflected in the honours system.
