Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many equalities impact assessments his Department completed in each of the last five years for which data is available.

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’ may be produced, there is no legal requirement for duty assessments to be recorded in a specific format.

Until November 2023 Defra did not keep a central record of completed duty assessments.

In 2023 the Department reviewed its processes and procedures in relation to compliance with the Duty, and in November 2023 established a central repository of Equality Impact Assessments completed across Defra group organisations.

The Department promotes awareness of the Duty and provides tools to help ensure compliance with it.