Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many equalities impact assessments her Department completed in each of the last five years for which data is available.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Under the Public Sector Equality Duty (the Duty), all public authorities, including Government departments, are required by law to ensure that they have due regard to certain equality considerations when carrying out their functions. While ‘equality impact assessments’ (EIAs) may be produced, there is no legal requirement for duty assessments to be recorded in a specific format.
The Government Legal Department (GLD) is the Attorney General’s Office’s (AGO) HR shared service provider and is therefore responsible for EIAs at the AGO. In the last five years, GLD has completed four EIAs when making substantive changes to HR policies and procedures (two EIAs in 2021 and two in 2023).
The AGO has completed no EIAs relating to policy changes. This aligns with its role as a department that does not hold policy in its own right.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many members of staff in their Department have one or more of the words equality, diversity, inclusion, gender, LGBT or race in their job title.
Answered by Michael Ellis
No job titles in the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), the Government Legal Department (GLD), and Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) include the words equality, diversity, inclusion, gender, LGBT or race.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) employs 6260 members of staff and 21 members of staff within the Department have one or more of the words equality, diversity, inclusion, gender, LGBT or race in their job title.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has no staff with these words in their job titles, however, one of the SFO’s Strategic Objectives is to build an effective and inclusive workforce, treating their staff fairly and with respect and dignity. There are also a large number of people in the organisation engaged on improving equality, diversity and inclusion across the office.