Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the findings of the Speaking Up report published by the Sutton Trust in November 2022; and if she will take steps to (a) assess the prevalence of and (b) help prevent workplace discrimination relating to accent.

Advancing fairness and equality of opportunity in the workplace is a key priority for this Government. Everyone should be treated fairly as an employee or job applicant so that they can thrive and reach their full potential. A diverse workforce is good for business and we recognise that employers stand the best chance of achieving this when they focus their efforts on effective actions which have a proven track record of improving diversity and inclusion.

The Government’s approach is to progress specific policies and practical actions that will deliver real change. Our agenda set out in the White Paper ‘Levelling Up the United Kingdom’ is key to this and we are promoting social mobility and tackling inequality through a range of initiatives – for example in education, through reforms to the welfare system, by giving greater developmental devolution in England and rebalancing the economy through schemes such as the Towns Fund.

We welcome the Sutton Trust’s Speaking Up report and note it recognises that accent is a key facet of several protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010 – for example, sex, race, age and sexual orientation ­­– this may offer some protection, depending on the particular circumstances of the case.

We have taken on board the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities (CRED) recommendations, and as part of the UK Government’s response ‘Inclusive Britain’, Action 69 is the commitment to establish an Inclusion at Work Panel to examine the evidence to understand what actually works to improve inclusion in the workplace and to share that information with employers so they can take action.

Made up of a panel of academics and practitioners in business it will develop and disseminate effective resources to help employers drive fairness across organisations. This will go beyond just race and ethnicity to identify actions to promote fairness for all in the workplace. It will include a programme of research and workplace trials to provide a robust evidence base and root out poor quality training.

In addition, we have published guidance that sets out the steps that employees can take if they are experiencing bullying or harassment at work, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/workplace-bullying-and-harassment.

Acas provides free and impartial advice for employers and employees, and has also published useful guidance on how to deal with bullying in the workplace that we encourage individuals and employers to consider when dealing with such matters. This is available at: https://www.acas.org.uk/if-youre-treated-unfairly-at-work/being-bullied.