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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if she will undertake an equality impact assessment of the work of UK Research and Innovation.

The Government recognises that equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), of both people and ideas, is crucial to delivering excellence in research and innovation. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has been developing work on this topic, led by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Executive Chair Jennifer Rubin and an external advisory group that brings together experts from the UK and international bodies. UKRI will be publishing its EDI strategy in February 2020, laying out the challenges and opportunities that the organisation and wider community faces. More information will be available after the anticipated House of Commons Science and Technology Committee inquiry into EDI and the publication of UKRI diversity data in the spring. The department will make decisions on further requirements in due course.