Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for each Arm's Length Body (ALB) their Department sponsors, (a) how many people are employed in the following bands of total earnings, or nearest equivalent, (i) under £25,000, (ii) £ 25,001 to £ 35,000, (iii) £35,001 to £50,270, (iv) £50,271 to £100,00, (v) £100,001 to £ 125,140 and (vi) over £125,140, and (b) what estimate they have made of the total unfunded public sector pension liability.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not routinely collect or publish data on (a) the staffing of arm’s length bodies (ALBs) broken down by earnings band, or (b) what the Hon. Member describes as the ‘total unfunded public sector pension liability’. However, in most cases, the ALBs in question publish their own data on staffing, remuneration, and pension schemes in each body’s annual report and accounts, which are publicly available on GOV.UK.
The Hon. Member can also find details of staff numbers broken down by grade for each ALB, and their overall paybill, in the Workforce Management Information statistics published by the Department each month, the latest edition of which, for June 2026, are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dhsc-workforce-management-information
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many FTE equivalent staff in (a) their Department and (b) each Arm's Length Body it sponsors are dedicated to fulfilment of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED); what the (i) annual employment and (ii) total annual cost incurred is as a result of PSED and compliance with PSED for each of those bodies; what the outputs are from the work of PSED teams and personnel dedicated to PSED; and if they will publish an assessment of their Department's compliance with PSED.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The requested data is not centrally held by the Department, and could only be collated and verified for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for each Arm's Length Body (ALB) their Department sponsors, (a) how many people are employed in the following bands of total earnings, or nearest equivalent, (i) under £25,000, (ii) £ 25,001 to £ 35,000, (iii) £35,001 to £50,270, (iv) £50,271 to £100,00, (v) £100,001 to £ 125,140 and (vi) over £125,140, and (b) what estimate they have made of the total unfunded public sector pension liability.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
(a) The attached table shows the headcount of employees in Core Defra and Arm's Length Bodies, broken down by salary band, as at June 2026.
(b) This information is not held centrally.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many FTE equivalent staff in (a) their Department and (b) each Arm's Length Body it sponsors are dedicated to fulfilment of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED); what the (i) annual employment and (ii) total annual cost incurred is as a result of PSED and compliance with PSED for each of those bodies; what the outputs are from the work of PSED teams and personnel dedicated to PSED; and if they will publish an assessment of their Department's compliance with PSED.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) is a statutory obligation that applies across the public sector. As a procedural duty to have "due regard" to equality considerations, compliance is an ongoing responsibility rather than a one-off task. It is integrated into the day-to-day development and delivery of all policies and services; as such, it is a core responsibility of all civil servants across government, rather than being restricted to dedicated personnel.
Because it is a continuous, procedural duty applicable to all civil servants, it is impossible to disaggregate the specific fraction of time or cost dedicated solely to Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) compliance versus general policy and operational work. Attempting to calculate an FTE or cost figure would incur disproportionate cost and still be highly inaccurate.
There are small teams that provide advisory support, but their headcount is withheld under standard data protection protocols (teams of five or fewer).
Sponsored Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs) are typically independent public authorities directly responsible for their own compliance. Information regarding ALBs’ internal resource allocation is not held by Defra.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, for each Arm's Length Body (ALB) their Department sponsors, (a) how many people are employed in the following bands of total earnings, or nearest equivalent, (i) under £25,000, (ii) £ 25,001 to £ 35,000, (iii) £35,001 to £50,270, (iv) £50,271 to £100,00, (v) £100,001 to £ 125,140 and (vi) over £125,140, and (b) what estimate they have made of the total unfunded public sector pension liability.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, how many FTE equivalent staff in (a) their Department and (b) each Arm's Length Body it sponsors are dedicated to fulfilment of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED); what the (i) annual employment and (ii) total annual cost incurred is as a result of PSED and compliance with PSED for each of those bodies; what the outputs are from the work of PSED teams and personnel dedicated to PSED; and if they will publish an assessment of their Department's compliance with PSED.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for each Arm's Length Body (ALB) their Department sponsors, (a) how many people are employed in the following bands of total earnings, or nearest equivalent, (i) under £25,000, (ii) £ 25,001 to £ 35,000, (iii) £35,001 to £50,270, (iv) £50,271 to £100,00, (v) £100,001 to £ 125,140 and (vi) over £125,140, and (b) what estimate they have made of the total unfunded public sector pension liability.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This table outlines the total people employed for each Arm’s Length Body (ALB) for each salary band of total earnings or nearest equivalent, and the total unfunded public sector pensions liability for each ALB.
Arm’s Length Body | Under £25,000 | £25,001 to £35,000 | £35,001 to £50,270 | £50,271 to £100,000 | £100,001 to £125,140 | Over £125,140 | Total unfunded public sector pensions liability |
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) | 0 | 716 | 1044 | 988 | 15 | 2 | HSE does not hold this information. |
Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) | 129 | 128 | 221 | 361 | 13 | 18 | MaPS does not hold this information. |
The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) | 0 | 7.6 | 111.87 | 52.83 | 1.35 | 2 | TPO does not hold this information. |
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) | 0 | 149 | 269 | 482 | 71 | 26 | TPR does not hold this information. |
Skills England (SE) (based on workforce data of June 2026 and based on estimates) | 0 | 7 | 92 | 151 | 0 | 3 | Skills England does not hold this information. |
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for each Arm's Length Body (ALB) their Department sponsors, (a) how many people are employed in the following bands of total earnings, or nearest equivalent, (i) under £25,000, (ii) £ 25,001 to £ 35,000, (iii) £35,001 to £50,270, (iv) £50,271 to £100,00, (v) £100,001 to £ 125,140 and (vi) over £125,140, and (b) what estimate they have made of the total unfunded public sector pension liability.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The information requested is not held centrally, and could only be provided at a disproportionate cost to the department.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for each Arm's Length Body (ALB) their Department sponsors, (a) how many people are employed in the following bands of total earnings, or nearest equivalent, (i) under £25,000, (ii) £ 25,001 to £ 35,000, (iii) £35,001 to £50,270, (iv) £50,271 to £100,00, (v) £100,001 to £ 125,140 and (vi) over £125,140, and (b) what estimate they have made of the total unfunded public sector pension liability.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
A breakdown of staff within the requested bands for each body is provided in the following table.
Arm’s Length Body | Under £25,000 | £25,001 to £35,000 | £35,001 to £50,270 | £50,271 to £100,000 | £100,001 to £125,140 | Over £125,140 |
Standards and Testing Agency | Nil | 15 | 79 | 41 | 1 | Nil |
Teaching Regulation Agency | Nil | 31 | 38 | 9 | Nil | Nil |
Office for Students | 1 | 53 | 210 | 289 | 8 | 6 |
Student Loans Company | 610 | 1632 | 510 | 597 | 21 | 7 |
Social Work England | Nil | 85 | 136 | 97 | 3 | 1 |
Office of the Children’s Commissioner | Nil | Nil | 15 | 8 | 2 | 1 |
Oak National Academy | Nil | 1 | 18 | 83 | 7 | 1 |
Some of the department’s bodies are out of scope for this question. School Teachers’ Review Body does not have salaried staff. As non-ministerial departments, Ofsted and Ofqual have responsibility for their own staffing, pay and budgetary arrangements.
I have asked His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, and Ofqual’s Chief Regulator, Sir Ian Bauckham CBE, respectively to write directly to the honourable member. A copy of each reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Public sector pensions are unfunded multi-employer defined benefit schemes, and where an arm’s length body is a member of these schemes, it is not possible to separately identify their share of underlying assets and liabilities.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many FTE equivalent staff in (a) their Department and (b) each Arm's Length Body it sponsors are dedicated to fulfilment of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED); what the (i) annual employment and (ii) total annual cost incurred is as a result of PSED and compliance with PSED for each of those bodies; what the outputs are from the work of PSED teams and personnel dedicated to PSED; and if they will publish an assessment of their Department's compliance with PSED.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Every government department has a responsibility under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), and must have due regard to specified equality considerations when carrying out its functions. This activity is embedded within mainstream roles in both the department and arm’s length bodies rather than undertaken by dedicated staff. The department does however have dedicated 0.8 Full Time Equivalent to support capability across the department, and provides assurance on compliance. Information on how we meet our PSED obligations is available on our Equality and Diversity page at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/equality-and-diversity.