Neil O'Brien

The Office for Equality and Opportunity (formerly the Equality Hub) currently has 180 staff members. The Office for Equality and Opportunity leads on Government policy in these areas and is organised into sub-teams. The sub-team names themselves include some of the requested keywords, though individual job titles are generic. The relevant sub-teams and headcounts are:

Some of the keywords (equality, gender, LGBT and race) are contained within some of the sub-team names but not all staff members will have a job title which contains one of the defined keywords. Please also note that the Office for Equality and Opportunity does not lead on Civil Service or Cabinet Office diversity and inclusion matters and so these words are not included in job titles.

The board of the Church Commissioners has authorised an application to register a new charity which it proposes to call the Fund for Healing, Repair and Justice. Subject to that application, the board would, in future, consider an application to authorise an ex-gratia payment under section 106 of the Charities Act 2011.

£5 million is not a forecast figure the Church Commissioners recognises in relation to the Spire programme in the triennium spending plans for 2026-28. The Church Commissioners’ triennium spending plan process involves forecasting high-level commitments over a three-year period to provide strategic direction and flexibility, recognising that actual costs and timings may vary across a multi-year programme

As this is a figure the Hon. Member for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston has also mentioned in a prior question (UIN 63009) and during oral questions on 3 July 2025, I wish to clarify the Church Commissioners’ financing in relation to the Spire programme.

In response to historic links to African chattel enslavement, the Church Commissioners has committed £100 million for a new charitable fund, to enable grant funding and further research. As per the answer to question UIN 63010, the Church Commissioners requires Charity Commission authorisation to settle income from its general fund on a new charitable fund to enact this response. Until such regulatory authorisation may be obtained, the Church Commissioners will not deploy any of the £100 million, which therefore remains in its general fund. As mentioned in answer to question UIN 63009, expenditure on this work to date, therefore, has been limited to proportionate research into the Church Commissioners’ source of funds and consideration of its response to that history.

From 2019 to the end of the financial year 31 December 2024 inclusive, the Church Commissioners' expenditure in connection with Project Spire was approximately £1 million. This is related to commissioning research and developing our formal response

The Church Commissioners' spending in this period relates to forensic accountancy, risk management, consultation, engagement events, communications, governance and ancillary matters. This figure does not include any estimate of internal staff time, as it is not possible to separate this from the general administration of the Church Commissioner's Secretariat and would incur a disproportionate cost to the organisation.

I refer the Hon. Member for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston to the written answer to his question published on 21st March 2025 (UIN 29047). Subject to Charity Commission authorisation the Church Commissioners intends to settle income from its general fund on a new charitable fund through which the Church Commissioners intends to deliver Project Spire.

All CO staff members (in scope) are allocated a performance marking at both the mid (Oct) and end of year (April) points of the performance year as part of their performance reviews. These performance markings are Exceeding, High Performing, Achieving, or Partially Met. The below table sets out how many performance reviews were undertaken and are further broken down by full time and part time staff.

The historical data for 2021 and 2022 cannot be segmented in the same format as the last three years, and so the data covers performance markings uploaded by line managers on our central system (SOP) between 2023-25. The process relies heavily on active engagement from the Line manager updating the central system so this may not capture all performance markings.

The data will not include all agencies as many have their own dedicated systems to record this information and are not subject to the CO performance processes. It is also important to note that not all colleagues are in scope at each cycle, as they need to have worked for the department for a minimum of 60 working days to be eligible for a marking.

This data covers all performance markings which have been uploaded onto our central system (SOP). Line managers are able to record individuals as 'Partially Met', however this does not automatically lead to poor performance measures as there are a number of reasons this may be appropriate (such as staff being new to grade or new to role). Line managers also often seek to address poor performance locally, and not all instances would be recorded on the system.

Cabinet Office’s probation policy and guidance advises managers on the steps to take to assess a new employee’s suitability for the post and to provide support to enable them to succeed. It also advises on the steps to take where performance, attendance or conduct are not satisfactory. This can include exiting the employee or extending their probation to provide further evidence for a final decision on their suitability.

In Cabinet Office, data on staff who are discharged from their probation is collated centrally, however information on those who have had their probationary period extended in each of the last five years is not held.

Information on the number of civil servants leaving each government department and organisation by responsibility level for the years 2021 to 2025 is published annually through the ‘Civil Service data browser’ as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Information can be accessed through the Civil Service data browser for 2021 through 2025 at the following web address:

https://civil-service-statistics.jdac.service.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/

The Cabinet Office can confirm staff are able to voluntarily record if they have a disability and the type of disability on our current HR system. We are unable to provide numbers on each categorisation as requested as locating, retrieving information and extracting relevant information are extensive and it is not possible to break this down due to time and cost limitations.

Information on the number of people declaring a disability by each government department are published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Latest published data are as at 31 March 2025 and can be found at Table 29 of the statistical tables at the following web address:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2025

Information for 31 March 2026 is due for publication in July 2026.

Hearings in the Employment Tribunal are normally held in public. There are a number of exceptions to this; including if there are national security concerns or if there is a vulnerable individual involved in the case.

There are a number of stages in the Tribunal Process, including ACAS conciliation, the informational stage prior to a formal tribunal being listed, preliminary hearings (where the tribunal may choose to strike out the application), and withdrawal of the claim.

Information pertaining to Employment Tribunals lodged against the department that reach hearing are listed in the public domain. It can be found at

https://www.gov.uk/employment-tribunal-decisions when searching under 'Cabinet Office'.

The published Tribunal decision documents state whether the case was upheld or not.

Since 2005, the remits of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which became operational on 1 April 2014, and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) have expanded in scope to undertake additional functions at the request of government.

The CMA's responsibilities in respect of competition enforcement and merger control have increased following the UK’s departure from the EU, as well as taking on new statutory functions and responsibilities under the UK Internal Market Act 2020, and the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024.

The FRC took on formal responsibility for actuarial oversight and standard-setting in 2006, for stewardship in 2009 following the Walker Review, as well as being designated as the competent authority for audit in 2016.

Since 2005, the remits of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which became operational on 1 April 2014, and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) have expanded in scope to undertake additional functions at the request of government.

The CMA's responsibilities in respect of competition enforcement and merger control have increased following the UK’s departure from the EU, as well as taking on new statutory functions and responsibilities under the UK Internal Market Act 2020, and the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024.

The FRC took on formal responsibility for actuarial oversight and standard-setting in 2006, for stewardship in 2009 following the Walker Review, as well as being designated as the competent authority for audit in 2016.

On 1^st July 2023 due to a Machinery of Government Change, the Department of International Trade (DIT) became the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), alongside parts of the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). We therefore only hold information from DBT from 1^st July 2023.

DBT does not hold performance management data for its agencies.

Performance reviews are held for every member of staff as per our Line Management Guidance. We capture this for all SCS, but results of delegated reviews (AA to Grade 6) are only partially available.

The data below shows performance reviews recorded in our system. Exact numbers of leavers due to poor performance and the percentages of such are withheld as disclosure could identify individuals and breach GDPR principles.

Information on the number of civil servants leaving each government department and organisation by responsibility level for the years 2021 to 2025 is published annually through the ‘Civil Service data browser’ as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Information can be accessed through the Civil Service data browser for 2021 through 2025 at the following web address:

https://civil-service-statistics.jdac.service.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/

Here is the break down by grade in 2024/2025 and 2023/2024.

The DBT was created in 2023. Complete staff record for DBT was only available since 1 August 2023. Leavers data prior to 1 August 2023 was provided by DBT’s predecessors, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Department for International Trade. This data is readily available on Gov.uk : https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics

Department for Business and Trade’s (DBT) probation policy and guidance advises managers on the steps to take to assess a new employee’s suitability for the post and to provide support to enable them to succeed. It also advises on the steps to take where performance, attendance or conduct are not satisfactory. This can include exiting the employee or extending their probation to provide further evidence for a final decision on their suitability.

DBT recoded fewer than five staff members who were recruited into the civil service and did not pass their probation, and were subsequently dismissed, since DBT was created in 2023. Information on staff who had their probationary period extended is not available.

The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) and NDA are directly accountable to Parliament. The information requested is published in Ofgem’s and NDA's annual report and accounts, which are laid before the House and publicly available

Whilst ONR’s government sponsor is DWP, we can confirm that the information requested can be found in ONR’s annual report and accounts, which is laid in Parliament. The first date that their annual report and accounts is available from is 2014-15 as ONR was not made a public corporation until 2013 under the Energy Act of that year.

The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) and NDA are directly accountable to Parliament. The information requested is published in Ofgem’s and NDA's annual report and accounts, which are laid before the House and publicly available

Whilst ONR’s government sponsor is DWP, we can confirm that the information requested can be found in ONR’s annual report and accounts, which is laid in Parliament. The first date that their annual report and accounts is available from is 2014-15 as ONR was not made a public corporation until 2013 under the Energy Act of that year.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) was established on 7th February 2023. The data provided is from 1st April 2023 to present, in alignment with our performance year.

We do not record any data relating to performance management for any of our agencies.

DESNZ does not record the number of individual performance reviews undertaken, but records the formal ratings assigned at the end of each performance year at the end of March. For the 2023/24 annual cycle, 15 employees were rated as unsatisfactory or below. For 2024/25 period, 38 employees fell into this category.

Data on the number of employees leaving as a direct result of an unsatisfactory performance rating is not recorded locally by DESNZ. There can be a combination of reasons for individuals leaving, so a direct correlation cannot be drawn.

The Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ) was created in February 2023.

In the period 23/24: 1 Employment Tribunal (ET) claim was lodged for unfair dismissal and disability discrimination.

In the period 24/25: 2 ET claims were lodged for unfair dismissal and disability discrimination and 1 ET claim for unfair dismissal alone.

In the period 25/26: 1 ET claim has been lodged for disability discrimination alone.

(a)There is no evidence in the data held in the DESNZ HR Oracle system of any employee being dismissed during their probationary period.

(b) Probation extensions are not centrally recorded in the Oracle HR System.

The number of employees and annual expenditure of Office of Communication (Ofcom) and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) are available in each organisation’s Annual Reports which can be viewed at: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/annual-reports-and-plans and https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/our-information/annual-reports/.

The number of employees and annual expenditure of Office of Communication (Ofcom) and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) are available in each organisation’s Annual Reports which can be viewed at: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/annual-reports-and-plans and https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/our-information/annual-reports/.

Information on the number of civil servants leaving each government department and organisation by responsibility level for the years 2021 to 2025 is published annually through the ‘Civil Service data browser’ as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Information can be accessed through the Civil Service data browser for 2021 through 2025 at the following web address:

Civil Service statistics - GOV.UK

The table below breaks down the number of staff with mental health or physical conditions by grade:

Information on the number of people declaring a disability by each government department are published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Latest published data are as at 31 March 2025 and can be found at Table 29 of the statistical tables at the following web address:

Civil Service statistics - GOV.UK

Information for 31 March 2026 is due for publication in July 2026.

Data specific to DSIT is only available from July 2024 onwards, prior to this data was categorised under BEIS and so we are unable to determine if cases relate to DSIT or DESNZ.

1. 3 claims of unfair dismissal, all raised in 2025
2. 7 claims under the Equality Act 2010, 1 raised in 2024 and 6 raised in 2025