Question

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to consult on which protected characteristics will be included in the data collection requirements to bring section 106 of the Equality Act 2010 into force; and what steps they will take to ensure that section 106 is operational in time for the next general election.

The Government is committed to commencing section 106 of the Equality Act 2010, requiring registered political parties to publish anonymised data relating to the diversity of their candidate selections in accordance with regulations.

Office for Equality and Opportunity officials are currently carrying out the preparatory work needed to commence the provision under section 106.

Careful consideration needs to be given to how it might be implemented, the necessary supporting regulations and whether any phasing might be needed in implementation, as well as the specifics with regards to data collection.

Officials will engage with stakeholders, including political parties, in due course. In the meantime it remains open to registered parties to publish their own candidate diversity data.