Charlie Dewhirst

During the 2025 calendar year, the Office for Equality and Opportunity publicly marked a variety of different days, which can be seen through communications materials and social media content. The EHRC is an independent arm’s length body that is operationally independent of the Government. As such, it is for the EHRC to decide on how it allocates its budget and operational activity including in relation to external communications marking significant themed days, weeks or months.

A list of special advisers is published each year in the Annual Report on Special Advisers.

The Office for Equality and Opportunity has not appointed any delivery advisers to date through the Direct Ministerial Appointment route, as civil servants appointed by exception, or as permanent civil servants appointed through open competition.

Industrial disputes are handled at a departmental level. The Office for Equality and Opportunity is a business unit that is in the process of moving from the Cabinet Office to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. These departments would have handled any relevant industrial disputes.

The EHRC is an independent arm’s length body that is operationally independent of the Government.

The OEO took part in the pilot Cabinet Office Future Leaders Policy Internship scheme during summer 2026. This was organised by Cabinet Office HR with OEO volunteering to accept two candidates for an 8 week internship.

The EHRC is an independent arm’s length body that is operationally independent of the Government. As an independent arm's length body, it is for the EHRC to decide on how it allocates its budget and operational activity. The Equality Act 2006 sets out the legal duty for the Secretary of State to lay before Parliament a copy of EHRC's Annual Reports and Accounts for the previous financial year. On 8 July, the EHRC published its Annual Report and Accounts for the financial year 2025-2026, which can be found here: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/about-us/transparency-and-corporate-reporting/annual-reports

There are no live industrial disputes in DCMS.

Data on facility time is not held centrally. The Office for Equality and Opportunity does not centrally hold information/data on individuals facility time spent and the costs associated.

Today’s media landscape is unrecognisable compared to even a decade ago, and the way the public receives information and communicates has changed drastically in this time.

The Government has a duty to engage with the public where they are, using channels and voices they trust to ensure all citizens can access government services, information and support - meeting audiences where they are.

The total spend is £71,460.00 since July 2024. Please note this cost includes agency and wider fees, such as expenses.

Content Creators are paid fairly for their services, time and expertise in content creation. Their work reaches people directly on the channels they use daily. Without targeted campaigns, millions of citizens would miss out on services, rights, and support to which they are entitled.

The guidelines for influencer and content creator marketing were created by the Government Communication Service and first published internally in November 2023.

The UK and EU share information and data where it supports our mutual safety, security, and prosperity, as part of our broader cooperation on trade, the economy, and defence and security.

DCMS acts in accordance with the reporting and information-sharing provisions relevant to the Department. These provisions are set out in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the Withdrawal Agreement, including the Windsor Framework. These documents are publicly available.

As an independent public body, the National Audit Office (NAO) is not part of the Government Communications profession. The NAO currently has a permanent headcount of 15 communications professionals working on external and internal communications.

The National Audit Office (NAO) has no standing data and reporting requirements that it must make to the European Commission and its agencies. The NAO would determine an appropriate response should any request for information be received.

In 2024-25, the total non-headcount budget spent by the National Audit Office (NAO) on external communications was £360,363. In 2025-26 it was £451,465. The budget includes use and monitoring of communications channels such as the NAO’s website and social media, stakeholder research, exhibiting at events such as Civil Service Live, for the purposes of communicating reports and the outcomes of work to stakeholders such as Members of Parliament and government.

The National Audit Office (NAO)’s workplace attendance requirement is for all staff to routinely spend a minimum of two days a week working in either NAO offices or those of a body audited by the NAO. The NAO collects data on compliance with this requirement. In the months from April to June 2026, compliance with the policy ranged from 75% to 83% of NAO employees.

The National Audit Office (NAO)’s 2026 Diversity internship scheme is a 6-week scheme for university students. Applicants must meet at least one of the following protected characteristics: lower socio-economic background; black heritage background; female.

The 36 communications staff in the Commission’s Communications and External Affairs Directorate are not part of the Government Communications Service.

The Commission has a statutory duty to run public awareness campaigns about electoral systems and connected matters, including ensuring all eligible voters understand how to participate.

It spent approximately £16.8 million in 2024/25 on informing voters, and £10.9 million in 2025/26, excluding staff costs. The budgets are agreed in advance with the relevant parliaments.

The Electoral Commission requires office-based staff to spend at least 40% of working time in the office. Attendance is managed by line managers.

The Electoral Commission does not currently offer an internship programme.

There is no consolidated list of the number of Non-Legally Binding Instruments across the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and its arm’s length bodies. We do not routinely publish or collate this information.

The Department's communications team comprises 53.7 FTE, all of whom are members of the Government Communication Service. The Department has no embedded communications staff.

The timetable for appointing a permanent Chief Executive to the Gambling Commission is a matter for the Gambling Commission’s Board. Any appointment will be subject to the Secretary of State agreeing terms and conditions.

Gambling Commission staff are neither civil nor crown servants. They are public servants who act on behalf of the Crown to regulate the commercial gambling industry.

The National Gallery report that the total budgeted cost for their Citizens Assembly is expected to be £250,000 over five years from 2025 to 2029. As part of this, the National Gallery contracted the Sortition Foundation to recruit a panel reflective of the UK population.

Government guidance published by MHCLG sets out that the provision of planning permission related to flag-flying is a matter for the relevant local authority.

As such, the Member should direct this question to Westminster City Council and the National Gallery.

The Government has committed to speeding up decision making and delivery for the British people. As part of this, a proportionate approach is being taken to equalities impact assessments, so that they improve policy and outcomes. Guidance for public authorities is already available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-sector-equality-duty-guidance-for-public-authorities/public-sector-equality-duty-guidance-for-public-authorities.

White disadvantaged boys are consistently among the lowest performers on average over every key stage. This Government is committed to breaking the link between young people’s backgrounds and their future success.The Every Child Achieving and Thriving white paper outlines a coordinated plan to improve outcomes for disadvantaged children. This includes rebuilding early family support, reforming how disadvantage funding is targeted, and launching two place-based missions.

The current gender pay gap reporting guidance was drafted in order to reduce the burden on business, and be mindful of variations in their data collection processes.

We recognise that the terms “male”, “female”, “men” and “women” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a person’s biological sex, and that this has implications for the guidance provided on gender pay gap reporting.

As currently set out on the “Preparing your data” guidance page, we are reviewing the relevant section of this guidance. Further updates on this will be provided shortly.

There is no list of gender identities recognised by the Government.

When the call for input on single-sex spaces guidance was commissioned, the previous Government did not seek consent from organisations to publish the responses. Consequently, we will not be placing the responses in the Library.

We shared all the submissions that met the criteria of the call for input with the independent EHRC. The EHRC have since concluded their regulatory action, which can be read about here: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/media-centre/ehrc-concludes-regulatory-action-single-sex-space-policies.

The membership of the following current groups and networks is based on direct ministerial appointments by Equalities Ministers, some of which were made under the previous administration. None of these appointments are remunerated and time commitment varies between groups and individuals.

British Sign Language Advisory Board (serving for 3 years): https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-boosts-opportunity-for-deaf-people-with-refreshed-bsl-advisory-board

Disability and Access Ambassadors (serving for up to 3 years): www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-disability-and-access-ambassadors

The Disability Unit Regional Stakeholder Network (serving for up to 3 years): www.gov.uk/government/groups/disability-unit-regional-stakeholder-network

The Race Equality Engagement Group (appointed in May 2025 for 12 months with the possibility of an extension): www.gov.uk/government/groups/race-equality-engagement-group#members

The Women’s Business Council (serving for up to 3 years): www.womensbusinesscouncil.co.uk/members/

The ‘Writing about ethnicity’ style guide is kept under review, in order to ensure it aligns with government communication preferences.

The guide was updated by the Office for Equality and Opportunity in October 2024.

Dr Stephenson has been selected as the Government Preferred Candidate for the next EHRC Chair, following a fair and open process, in line with the Governance Code for Public Appointments. As per the Code, all candidates were asked to declare any conflicts of interest they held as part of the interview process. We will continue to follow the Code as the process continues.

In April 2023, the previous government issued guidance on positive action in the workplace (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/positive-action-in-the-workplace-guidance-for-employers/positive-action-in-the-workplace). This sets out the differences between positive action and positive discrimination and what is permitted under the Equality Act 2010.

The Attorney General’s Office does not operate any internship schemes that are restricted to applicants on the basis of (i) ethnicity, (ii) social class, or (iii)both.

The CPS, SFO and HMCPSI do not offer internship schemes.

The Government Legal Department (GLD) supports three internship and placement schemes that aim to improve access to the legal profession: the Sutton Trust internship, the Government Legal Profession (GLP) Summer Diversity Scheme and the GLD Law Placement Scheme. None of these schemes restricts applicants on the basis of ethnicity. Eligibility criteria for some schemes are designed to support social mobility.

It is not routine to disclose correspondence between Ministers or Permanent Secretaries and any individual or organisation.

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) requires staff to attend the workplace for a minimum of 60% of their contracted working time, in line with the Civil Service office attendance expectation. The AGO operates from a single office location in London. Attendance data is collated at a departmental level.

As the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is a geographically dispersed organisation with staff working across offices, courts, police stations and other government departments' buildings, local leadership provide assurance of compliance with CPS’s hybrid working policy and conduct local monitoring, but attendance statistics are not specifically collated at a national level.

The Government Legal Department (GLD), irrespective of site, has a 60% attendance expectation, but we do not currently collect attendance statistics for each of our individual sites.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) requires 40% workplace attendance, which is an exception to the Cabinet Office guidance for 60% occupancy. This is due to the SFO having reduced its space at its current office (Canada House) based on 40% attendance and secured space in its new office (Cabot Square, Canary Wharf) based on the same. The SFO operates from a single office site, currently at Canada House and is set to move to Cabot Square before the end of the financial year. However, employees also work from other locations, including court or across the country when conducting executive action. Attendance is currently managed locally by line managers and statistics are not collated automatically.

For HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI), the nature of the work is such that inspectors are frequently “on-site” for inspection work in the offices of those they inspect. HMCPSI staff meet at both the London and York offices regularly for inspection and other meetings as per their inspection methodology as business need dictates. All staff are required to attend a mandated office day once a month as well as all staff days and all-inspector days, which are mandated, in addition to the above. Central attendance statistics are not collated for either office by HMCPSI as they share space in both locations with other departments.

It is not routine to disclose correspondence between Ministers or Permanent Secretaries and any individual or organisation.

The UK and EU share information and data as part of our broader cooperation on trade, economy, and security.

The Attorney General’s Office is a small ministerial department and does not maintain any databases for the purpose of reporting information directly to the European Commission or its agencies. Where information is provided in relation to international obligations, this would ordinarily be coordinated through the lead Government department responsible for the relevant policy area.

The Crown Prosecution Service does not have any formal direct reporting requirements to the EU Commission. For the Government Legal Department (GLD), any reporting obligations arising from policy or operational activity would generally sit with the relevant client department, rather than with GLD itself. The Serious Fraud Office does not provide any reporting to the European Commission. HMCPSI does not have any data and reporting requirements in relation to the European Commission and its agencies.

The Attorney General’s Office has not operated or made available any internship schemes in the last 12 months.

The Crown Prosecution Service has not provided any internship schemes in the last 12 months.

In the last 12 months, the following internship schemes have been made available through the Government Legal Profession and the Government Legal Department, excluding the Fast Stream Summer Internship Programme: the Sutton Trust week-long internship, the GLP Diversity Summer Scheme, and the Government Legal Department Law Placement Scheme. These internship and placement schemes are offered to improve access to the legal profession.

The Serious Fraud Office do not have internship programmes in place.

HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate has not made any internship schemes available.