Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many equalities impact assessments his Department completed in each of the last five years for which data is available.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
My Department has obligations in relation to equality considerations under both Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. Under Section 75, the Northern Ireland Office as a designated public body has a statutory duty to screen all new, proposed or revised policies in relation to functions delivered in Northern Ireland for potential equality impacts and consider a full equality impact assessment (EQIA) for any policies screened in.
In the last five years, the Northern Ireland Office has published over 29 screenings and one EQIA in 2022.
Further information on the Northern Ireland Office’s Equality Scheme and its published equality assessments can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/northern-ireland-office.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much the Department spent on unconscious bias training in each of the last five years.
Answered by Robin Walker
The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive working environment for all and Unconscious Bias training is mandatory for all staff. It is a requirement for all staff when they join the NIO and to complete refresher training every two years.
The NIO pays an annual fee, like all other departments, for access to a range of Civil Service Learning, including Unconscious Bias. The exact cost spent specifically on Unconscious Bias training in the last five years cannot therefore be quantified.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many members of staff in his Department have equality, diversity or inclusion in their job title.
Answered by Robin Walker
There are no staff members in the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) who have equality, diversity or inclusion specifically in their job title, however the NIO understands the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace, placing an emphasis on being an organisation that is equal, diverse and inclusive.
There is a requirement for every staff member to have a diversity objective as part of their performance agreement. The department has an active Diversity & Inclusion network and is wholly committed to advancing equality, diversity and inclusion for all.
In 2018, the NIO won the award for Best (Small) Employer for Equality & Diversity in Northern Ireland at the Legal-Island Gala Awards and in 2019 we were Highly Commended at the same awards for our gender initiative. The department obtained a Diversity Charter Mark from Legal-Island in 2019 and are a Disability Confident Leader organisation, and members of Employers for Disability Northern Ireland.