Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has conducted an audit of the number of people who are employed in equality, diversity and inclusion roles by councils in England.
Local authorities are independent employers and have a legal responsibility to comply with all relevant employment and equality legislation. Individual authorities must decide how many staff they need to carry out particular functions. Spending decisions including recruitment must be affordable and sensible, ensuring value for money for taxpayers.