Baroness Stedman-Scott

Decisions regarding internal departmental roles are for departments to make. The Office for Equality and Opportunity does not hold records relating to such roles.

We established the Office for Equality and Opportunity to lead work to ensure that whoever you are, wherever you come from, and irrespective of your race or ethnicity, Britain is a country that will respect your contribution and give you a fair chance to get on in life.

Officials in the OEO are working across government to tackle race inequalities, including through our Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, announced in the King’s Speech, which will introduce mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for larger employers and extend the right to make equal pay claims to ethnic minority and disabled people.

Yes. The Government uses the term LGBT+ to reflect the breadth and diversity of the community as well as the preferences of most LGBT+ people. This term also resonates with language used by international partners and institutions. Whilst this is the Government's standard terminology, there may be occasions where it is appropriate to utilise variations that reflect a narrower or wider focus.

In our manifesto, we committed to modernising, simplifying, and reforming gender recognition law. We will remove indignities for trans people who deserve recognition and acceptance whilst retaining the need for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

We will set out our next steps on this work in due course, including on any consultation and the appropriate legislative vehicle for reform.

The call for input, published under the previous Government, closed on 26 June. We are currently reviewing the responses and considering the next steps. We will share further details, including the number of valid responses, in due course.

Decisions on recruitment are delegated to departments. They are responsible for ensuring their policies are compliant with the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles and any other relevant legislation such as, in this instance, the Equality Act 2010.

As was the case under the previous administration, there is no list of gender identities recognised by the Government People Group or Office for Equality and Opportunity.

Government departments and arm’s-length bodies are responsible for decisions about whether to buy services from third sector organisations to support equality, diversity and inclusion in their organisations. Currently no government department is a member of Stonewall.

The original date for final reporting was the end of August 2024. However, the review is ongoing to ensure that all stakeholders have been properly engaged, and to ensure the complex topics within the report are appropriately considered.

Upon final receipt of the full report, the government will consider next steps, including publication.

The Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education consultation received over 143,000 responses. These are currently being analysed and the findings, including analytics about the respondents, will be published once my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has had an opportunity to look at them carefully, alongside discussing with stakeholders and considering the relevant evidence, including the Cass Review which has since been published, before setting out next steps.

The consultation did not ask respondents to disclose the organisation they represent, and responses from organisations were only categorised by type, such as school, local authority, union or charity so we are unable to provide a comprehensive list.

The steps set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper set us on a path to bring down economic inactivity levels and to take the first steps to delivering our long-term ambition of achieving an 80% employment rate. The Department understands the negative effects of unemployment can be particularly pronounced for young people and can have longstanding implications on their future earnings potential and life chances. This is why DWP have a particular focus on ensuring young people are supported into employment, whilst also recognising their needs will vary depending on where they live and their own individual circumstances.

DWP currently provides young people aged 16-24 with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and support delivered by work coaches based in our Jobcentres and in local communities working alongside partners such as the Kings Trust, Local Authorities, National Careers Service/Career Wales, local colleges and Youth Trusts.

As part of our plan to Get Britain Working, we are launching a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education are working closely with the eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England set to receive grant funding to deliver the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers from Spring 2025. We will use the learning from these Trailblazers to inform the future design and development of the Youth Guarantee as it rolls-out across the rest of England.

This is alongside a new national jobs and careers service to help get more people into work, work health and skills plans for the economically inactive, and the launch of Skills England to open new opportunities for young people. We will work in partnership with organisations and businesses at the national and local level to offer exciting and engaging opportunities to young people. This could include work experience, training courses or employability programmes.

The Government is also reforming the apprenticeships offer into a more flexible growth and skills offer, aligned to the industrial strategy. The Department for Education is working to introduce new foundation apprenticeships for young people, as well as shorter duration apprenticeships, in targeted sectors. These will help more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuel innovation in businesses across the country, and provide high-quality entry pathways for young people.

The steps set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper set us on a path to bring down economic inactivity levels and to take the first steps to delivering our long-term ambition of achieving an 80% employment rate. The Department understands the negative effects of unemployment can be particularly pronounced for young people and can have longstanding implications on their future earnings potential and life chances. This is why DWP have a particular focus on ensuring young people are supported into employment, whilst also recognising their needs will vary depending on where they live and their own individual circumstances.

DWP currently provides young people aged 16-24 with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and support delivered by work coaches based in our Jobcentres and in local communities working alongside partners such as the Kings Trust, Local Authorities, National Careers Service/Career Wales, local colleges and Youth Trusts.

As part of our plan to Get Britain Working, we are launching a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education are working closely with the eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England set to receive grant funding to deliver the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers from Spring 2025. We will use the learning from these Trailblazers to inform the future design and development of the Youth Guarantee as it rolls-out across the rest of England.

This is alongside a new national jobs and careers service to help get more people into work, work health and skills plans for the economically inactive, and the launch of Skills England to open new opportunities for young people. We will work in partnership with organisations and businesses at the national and local level to offer exciting and engaging opportunities to young people. This could include work experience, training courses or employability programmes.

The Government is also reforming the apprenticeships offer into a more flexible growth and skills offer, aligned to the industrial strategy. The Department for Education is working to introduce new foundation apprenticeships for young people, as well as shorter duration apprenticeships, in targeted sectors. These will help more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuel innovation in businesses across the country, and provide high-quality entry pathways for young people.

This Government has outlined its ambitions through the Plan for Change, which sets out an ambitious set of milestones - across the missions - for this Parliament.

As the House would expect, Government continually reviews its work to ensure that it is delivering the best outcomes for the people of the United Kingdom, and that its policies continue to represent the best value for the taxpayer.

Public reviews will be available on Gov.uk as they are published.

DWP is always exploring ways to publish more information to enrich the public discourse.

DWP published new analysis of Universal Credit (UC) into-work rates and flows between conditionality groups - including what proportion did not flow out of the UC “Searching for work” labour market regime, over a six month period, as part of the recent Get Britain Working White Paper here.

Plans are being developed for regular and proportional update to this analysis.

Additionally, statistics and management information on contracted employment provisions such as Restart and the Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) interventions are published on Gov.UK (Restart Scheme statistics to October 2024 - GOV.UK, Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) Management Information, April 2021 to March 2024 - GOV.UK).

DWP is always exploring ways to publish more information to enrich the public discourse.

DWP published new analysis of Universal Credit (UC) into-work rates and flows between conditionality groups - including what proportion did not flow out of the UC “Searching for work” labour market regime, over a six month period, as part of the recent Get Britain Working White Paper here.

Plans are being developed for regular and proportional update to this analysis.

Additionally, statistics and management information on contracted employment provisions such as Restart and the Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) interventions are published on Gov.UK (Restart Scheme statistics to October 2024 - GOV.UK, Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) Management Information, April 2021 to March 2024 - GOV.UK).

We expect National Health Service organisations to implement policies and procedures that are in line with employment law and good human resources practice, including the Equality Act 2010 and other relevant legislation.

NHS leaders are responsible for setting the tone and culture of their organisation, and that is why NHS England’s equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) improvement plan does require chairs, chief executives, and board members to have distinct objectives on improving inclusion in their organisation. There is no national directive to embed EDI duties in staff contracts or systems for pay and performance.

It is right that the NHS addresses prejudice and discrimination where it exists across the NHS workforce, and that staff feel more empowered to tackle health inequalities and deliver great care and patient experience.

The Civil Service Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Guidance was published on 14 May 2024, and required all departments and arm's length bodies to set controls on all equality, diversity, and inclusion related expenditure. No further guidance was issued by the Department to National Health Service trusts.

The Government is committed to creating a fair health system that tackles health inequalities effectively, whilst deriving maximum value from taxpayers’ money.

In 2024, to mark Bisexual Awareness Week, the FCDO flew two bisexual flags within the grounds of its London headquarters. These flags were purchased in 2021 for £285.93 each to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the lifting of the ban on LGBT+ people serving in the Diplomatic Service. The then Permanent Under Secretary of the FCDO approved the flying of the flags on the internal courtyard flag poles.

A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.

The Aggravated Offences, set out in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, currently cover the protected characteristics of race and religion. These offences mirror certain non-hate crime equivalent offences (that is: assault, criminal damage, public order offences or harassment) but with higher maximum sentences.

The Government's manifesto commitment to “protect LGBT+ and disabled people by making all existing strands of hate crime an aggravated offence” intends to extend the Aggravated Offences so that they cover all existing strands of hate crime, meaning that the offences will be extended to additionally cover the protected characteristics of sexual orientation, disability and transgender identity.

We are carefully considering how best to deliver this commitment and will set out our next steps in due course.

The Government has not made any assessment of the Bar Standards Board consultation paper published on 3 September; and the effect on the Government Legal Service. The legal profession in England and Wales is independent of Government. Statutory responsibility for encouraging a diverse legal profession sits with the approved regulators, overseen by the oversight regulator, the Legal Services Board.