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.

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.

A Family Test and an Equality Analysis were produced as part of the Ministerial decision-making process in line with the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duties. The environmental impact was given due consideration, which concluded that there was no direct environmental impact.

The equality analysis was published on 13 September and is available on Gov.UK ( DWP Freedom of Information response - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)). I will deposit a copy of the equality analysis and Family Test Assessment in the House Libraries.

By convention, such analyses are not published alongside secondary legislation. However, in view of the close public interest in this issue I have decided, exceptionally, to publish in this case.

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.