Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, 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 (PSED) the FCDO is required to pay due regard to the need to: eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between different people when carrying out their activities. Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) are one of the tools used to assess whether a new policy or change to existing policy is likely to have a disproportionate impact on those with protected characteristics as defined in the 2010 Equality Act. The FCDO does not centrally monitor how many EIAs are completed, therefore no information is held on this question.