Power, Access, And Who Decides. From The Edges Edition 5
Published about 2 months ago • 3 min read
August 2025
Power, Access, And Who Decides
From The Edges - Edition 5
Mo and Kaia
The deeper question at the heart of inclusion is who gets access, who holds power, and who decides who belongs? From the UK Government’s move to open up civil service internships to working-class students, to a tribunal ruling that a lack of ADHD training amounted to discrimination, the message is clear—systems need to shift. Whether it’s policy, workplace practice, or public representation, decisions about inclusion aren't neutral; they reflect power. And that’s exactly why we need to keep paying attention.
Work on inclusion is all about power. How do people at the edges access power and representation in decision-making spaces? How do people get marginalised and pushed to the edges? This is the deeper question at the heart of this work. We have seen the UK Government talk about opening up civil service roles to working classes, and be criticised. Older workers are being left behind in training and skills, and American Express have withdrawn their financial support of Brighton & Hove Pride.
We have followed and scanned the news to see what's happening. Here's what caught our eyes this week. If you know someone who should be in the loop, share this newsletter.
We spotlight the stories that show us what is working and what is going wrong. The wins inspire us, the failures teach us. For People Leaders, paying attention to both is important. And have you seen a story we should share? Email us at hello@edgeofdifference.com
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News from the edges this week...
Civil Service Interns To be Recruited From the Working Class
The UK Government has announced that it will restrict civil service internships to students from poorer families. This is to drive great representation in the Civil Service. The main internship scheme will look at what jobs people's parents did when they were aged 14. This will then impact who is selected for the Fast Stream programme. Ministers have highlighted that parts of the civil service are too privileged, with people who have come from similar backgrounds. This change is part of changes to impact areas where more representation is needed from people who make decisions that impact citizens. The Social Mobility Commission found that only 18% of senior civil servants are from working-class backgrounds.
Tribunal Rules Tech Company Discriminated After Failing To Offer ADHD Training
A Senior IT Worker with ADHD was discriminated against by their employer, a tribunal has ruled. The company failed to offer employees any training on neurodiversity. The employee disclosed her ADHD diagnosis, and a workplace needs assessment recommended several potential adjustments. The panel ruled that her employer failed to implement these recommendations.
This is learning for employers to think about what learning and development is put in place. Employers may not be able to implement all recommendations, but they do have a duty to consider requests and recommendations for adjustments.
Did any of those news stories make you think that you need to do something about this with your teams? Our training programmes are filling up fast! We have launched some great new programmes to look at:
Commercial Edge training - For customer-facing teams on inclusive communication
Edge Awareness - for everyone to learn about conscious and unconcsious biases
Allyship Edge - understand what allyship is and how to be an ally
That's just some of our training courses. We have a whole range of courses.
Are you a People Leader or a diversity, equity and inclusion lead looking for some help and support? You can now book time for individual sessions with us where we delve into your diversity, equity and inclusion strategy and help you create ideas to drive change. And we are offering 20% off to our newsletter subscribers!
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Inclusion Edge - 1 hour session
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