Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department has taken to improve social mobility in each of the last seven years.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) was formed in 2016.

Internal efforts on improving social mobility since the creation of the Department have included various talent schemes such as our Summer Diversity Internship Programme. We are fully committed to working with the Cabinet Office on addressing social mobility issues through the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy which was launched in October; this will include creating a standard measurement for social mobility which all Departments will be able to use in their activity on this area.

The assessment of wider societal impacts is an integral part of policy development in the Department, including applying the family test and compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty as specified in the Equality Act 2010.