Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many FTE equivalent staff in (a) their Department and (b) each Arm's Length Body it sponsors are dedicated to fulfilment of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED); what the (i) annual employment and (ii) total annual cost incurred is as a result of PSED and compliance with PSED for each of those bodies; what the outputs are from the work of PSED teams and personnel dedicated to PSED; and if they will publish an assessment of their Department's compliance with PSED.

Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) considerations, using Equality Impact Statements, are incorporated within broader policy, decision-making and governance functions undertaken by Ministry of Defence (MOD) staff as part of their wider duties. There are no full-time equivalent posts dedicated exclusively to PSED compliance and thus staffing costs or total annual costs relating solely to PSED compliance are not recorded. The Government Internal Audit Agency provides the MOD’s Permanent Secretary and Committees assurance on systems of governance, risk management and internal control Audit, including PSED. PSED Assurance Reports are not published externally.