Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to help ensure that (a) all public bodies undertake annual diversity reviews and (b) those annual reviews include an assessment of the progression of people with protected characteristics.

Regulation 4 of the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017 already requires many public authorities to publish, every year, information relating to those of their employees who share a relevant protected characteristic. This helps the authorities to demonstrate their compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty.

The Government is committed to reforming Arm’s-Length Bodies to ensure they are necessary, accountable, efficient and effective. To achieve this vision the Government has launched a Public Body Review Programme. The guidance includes an expectation that:

“All Arm’s-Length Bodies shall, in the management of its workforce:

• Meet its legal obligations as a public sector employer.

• Follow the Public Sector Pay Policy.

• Report their gender pay gap, if meeting the reporting threshold.

• Adhere to diversity action plans in place”.

Additionally, the Cabinet Office has published a new ‘Sponsorship Code of Good Practice’. As part of the Code, Arm’s-Length Bodies are challenged to have a diversity action plan.