Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps their Department is taking to support the Disability Confident scheme; how many officials in their Department work directly on supporting that scheme; what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of that work in supporting the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of disabled people in their Department; and what further steps they are taking to support their Department’s recruitment and retention of disabled people.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department proudly supports the Disability Confident Scheme, and has renewed its status as a Disability Confident employer. No single official works directly on the scheme, and in line with Civil Service guidance, we have moved away from standalone roles and teams to embed equality, diversity, and inclusion activities within existing human resource portfolios and roles. Activity to support the recruitment and retention of colleagues with a disability is undertaken across our recruitment, talent, and employee experience teams.
In the last calendar year, 11.3% of successful applicants applied under the Disability Confident Scheme. This is a slight increase from last year, at 10.9%. We additionally review our disability representation rates on a regular basis to monitor the impact of our recruitment practices and policy changes. We also have dedicated staff networks to support our disabled employees and celebrate achievements. Turnover of permanent employees who have declared they have a disability is currently approximately 6%, which is significantly lower than the average permanent staff turnover of colleagues who do not have a declared disability.
In 2023, we launched a new Workplace Adjustments policy, process, and passport. The new process is designed to ensure everyone in the Department can access the support they need as easily and quickly as possible via a person-centred approach that identifies and seeks to remove workplace barriers.
We also delivered several talent schemes that can assist in supporting the retention and development of disabled colleagues. This includes Beyond Boundaries, a 12-month programme for the Senior Executive Officer grade and below, to support candidates in reaching their full potential. As part of the programme, to support disability positive action, last year we ringfenced six job places out of 30, based on the proportionality of our disabled workforce, the People Survey, and recruitment data. We expect to take similar action this year.
In addition, the Future Leaders Scheme (FLS) is a 12-month accelerated development scheme for Grade 6 or 7 colleagues, who have the potential to progress to the Civil Service’s most senior and critical leadership roles. There is an option for those candidates who declare a disability or long-term health condition, or both, to enrol on the Disability Empowers Leadership Talent Association (DELTA) integrated scheme. In 2022, we had four candidates participate in DELTA out of the 21 successful FLS candidates, and two out of 26 in 2021, as per the data from the Cabinet Office. It should be noted that due to the sensitive nature of the programmes, not all participants are comfortable in being open about participation in DELTA, especially those with disabilities who have yet to disclose this to their colleagues or managers.
Finally, the Department’s mutual mentoring programme encourages underrepresented groups, including colleagues with disabilities, to mentor senior civil service colleagues to help increase the engagement and retention of underrepresented staff, and increase cultural intelligence in senior leaders.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the cost to the public purse was of staff diversity networks in her Department in each of the last five years.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The government has audited the cost-effectiveness of all equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) activities, through the review of EDI spending announced last June.
On 14 May, the Minister without Portfolio made a written statement on the latest findings from the review. This can be found at: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2024-05-14/hcws464.
In response to these findings, the Cabinet Office is publishing the Civil Service EDI Expenditure Guidance. This includes an end to all external spending on EDI activity, unless cleared and authorised by Ministers.
Further guidance on diversity staff networks is being developed, and the department will seek to publish additional data on historic spending to assist transparency in this area.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what the total cost to the public purse was of staff diversity networks in his Department in each of the last five years.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government has audited the cost-effectiveness of all equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) activities, through the review of EDI spending announced last June. On 14 May the Minister without Portfolio made a written statement [https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2024-05-14/hcws464] on the latest findings from the review. In response to these findings, the Cabinet Office is publishing the Civil Service EDI Expenditure Guidance. This includes an end to all external spending on EDI activity, unless cleared and authorised by Ministers. Further guidance on diversity staff networks is being developed, and we will seek to publish additional data on historic spending to assist transparency in this area.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost to the public purse was of staff diversity networks in his Department in each of the last five years.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government has audited the cost-effectiveness of all equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) activities, through the review of EDI spending announced last June.
On 14 May, the Minister without Portfolio made a written statement on the latest findings from the review.
In response to these findings, the Cabinet Office is publishing the Civil Service EDI Expenditure Guidance. This includes an end to all external spending on EDI activity, unless cleared and authorised by Ministers.
Further guidance on diversity staff networks is being developed, and we will seek to publish additional data on historic spending to assist transparency in this area.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the total cost to the public purse was of staff diversity networks in her Department in each of the last five years.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has audited the cost-effectiveness of all equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) activities, through the review of EDI spending announced last June.
On 14th May the Minister without Portfolio made a written statement on the latest findings from the review.
In response to these findings, the Cabinet Office is publishing the Civil Service EDI Expenditure Guidance. This includes an end to all external spending on EDI activity, unless cleared and authorised by Ministers.
Further guidance on diversity staff networks is being developed, and we will seek to publish additional data on historic spending to assist transparency in this area.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total cost to the public purse was of staff diversity networks in his Department in each of the last five years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Our financial records show that for the five financial Years 19/20 to 23/24 costs recorded for our staff networks total £215, 835.
This does not include expenditure by all staff networks which may have had costs met through central budgets based on specific business cases and other ad-hoc requests during the period. Disproportionate effort would be required to identify such costs.
In addition, the Government has audited the cost-effectiveness of all equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) activities, through the review of EDI spending announced last June. On 14th May the Minister without Portfolio made a written statement on the latest findings from the review.
In response to these findings, the Cabinet Office has published the Civil Service EDI Expenditure Guidance. This includes an end to all external spending on EDI activity, unless cleared and authorised by Ministers.
The Cabinet Office is also developing new guidance for staff diversity networks. This will outline clear expectations and parameters around the role and function of networks so that they support productivity and are aligned to Civil Service Values, Civil Service D&I Strategy and Government Reform commitments.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse was of staff diversity networks in his Department in each of the last five years.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has audited the cost-effectiveness of all equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) activities, through the review of EDI spending announced last June.
On 14th May the Minister without Portfolio made a written statement on the latest findings from the review. In response to these findings, the Cabinet Office is publishing the Civil Service EDI Expenditure Guidance. This includes an end to all external spending on EDI activity, unless cleared and authorised by Ministers.
Further guidance on diversity staff networks is being developed, and we will seek to publish additional data on historic spending to assist transparency in this area.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding has been disbursed to the Ozanne Foundation via the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office or predecessor departments since 2019; on what evidential basis was that funding released; and what conditions, if any, were attached to that funding.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
LGBT rights are human rights and the UK is committed to championing these rights internationally, supporting those who defend them. The Ozanne Foundation works with religious organisations around the world to eliminate discrimination based on sexuality or gender to embrace and celebrate the equality and diversity of all. Since 2019, the FCDO and predecessor departments have provided the Ozanne Foundation with £207,500, this includes £20,000 for 2023-24. The funding, which was allocated to address the issue of violence and discrimination of LGBT people, has primarily been used for the Global Interfaith Commission on LGBT lives which calls for an end to violence and criminalisation against LGBT people. It was announced by the Cabinet Office Minister on 13 May that all future contracts for external diversity spending will be signed off by ministers.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to fund the Ozanne Foundation via the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in 2024–28, and for what purpose.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The LGBT rights programme was publicly announced in November 2023. This programme has been set up to fund a range of partner organisations and is designed to improve the lives of millions of LGBT people around the world by reducing violence and discrimination, improving economic and social inclusion and legislative reform. The Ozanne Foundation works with religious organisations around the world to eliminate discrimination based on sexuality or gender to embrace and celebrate the equality and diversity of all. The Ozanne Foundation submitted a proposal to develop a residential course for senior religious leaders from around the world. The proposal was successful and due diligence of the lead programme partner, Regent's Park College, University of Oxford, is currently ongoing. It was announced by the Cabinet Office Minister on 13 May that all future contracts for external diversity spending will be signed off by ministers.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how much her Department has spent on external consultancies in the last five years.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Equality Hub is part of the Cabinet Office and external consultancy spend is reported within the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts.
For 2019-20, Cabinet Office external consultancy spend can be found on pages 59 and 104 of our Annual Report and Accounts 2019-20, linked here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5f16e6aa3a6f40727f97b746/Cabinet-Office-Annual-Report-and-Accounts-2019-20.pdf
For 2020-21, Cabinet Office external consultancy spend can be found on pages 104 and 206 of our Annual Report and Accounts 2020-21, linked here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/60f03ea28fa8f50c716bccda/15640_CO_Annual_Report_2020_2021_digital_temp.pdf
For 2021-22, Cabinet Office external consultancy spend can be found on pages 119 and 197 of our Annual Report and Accounts 2021-22, linked here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1123904/CO_ARA21-22_WEB_Final_121222.pdf
For 2022-23 Cabinet Office external consultancy spend can be found on pages 107 and 191 of our Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, linked here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6509a3394cd3c3000d68ccd4/CO_ARA22-23_WEB_190923.pdf
Consultancy spend for 2023-24 will be published in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24, later this year.
Cabinet Office has a mature assurance framework for Consultancy & Professional Services. A dedicated team exists to assure such spending and make recommendations to officials accordingly for decision. The assurance framework is built on the principles outlined in the Consultancy Playbook and aims to ensure that where such requirements are justified, they deliver value for money for the taxpayer. This use of these consultants is a legitimate part of policymaking that helps to deliver efficient public services to the taxpayer and has been a feature under successive Governments.