A POLICE force has defended spending £200,000 In five months on diversity, and claimed it is “matching aspirations.”.

North Wales Police have revealed the spending in a Freedom of Information reply about the costs of a diversity and inclusion team.

Between April and August a workforce representation Inspector has cost £33,208, two workforce representation Constables £48,841, two corporate diversity constables £47,548, an internal diversity officer £19,127, a head of diversity development £26,405, a “positive action officer” £16,621, and a part time administrative co-ordinator £9,057.

Chief Superintendent Simon Williams, said: “We police diverse communities and our vision is to make North Wales the safest place in the UK for everyone.

“To achieve this we need to fully understand and value differences within our communities and workforce.

“Increasing the diversity of our workforce is a priority and we have clear plans to tackle hate crime and understand and address community tensions. We have matched our aspirations with investment in resources. We have invested in dedicated resources to increase the representation from diverse communities in North Wales Police.

"In addition we have dedicated resources focused on ensuring that community engagement, addressing community tensions, and tackling hate crime remain a priority for all our staff. ”

Darren Millar, MS for Clwyd West, said: ‘While I applaud North Wales Police for aiming to ensure that its officers reflect the communities that it polices, I’m not convinced that these posts are entirely necessary to achieve that goal.

"The UK Government has made a huge investment in policing since the general election as part of its promise of 20,000 more police officers and there is an expectation in North Wales that this will result in a more visible police presence in their local areas so this should be the focus of any additional investment."

James Roberts, political director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “This force has been caught red-handed putting political priorities before policing.

“Taxpayers want their hard-earned cash spent on cops fighting crime, not cultural commissars preaching from behind their desks.

"Police chiefs now need to justify these costs or refocus their funding on the frontline.”