The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) is a statutory obligation that applies across the public sector. As a procedural duty to have "due regard" to equality considerations, compliance is an on-going responsibility rather than a one-off task. It is integrated into the day-to-day development and delivery of all policies and services; as such, it is a core responsibility of all civil servants across government, rather than being restricted to dedicated personnel.

Because it is a continuous, procedural duty applicable to all civil servants, it is impossible to disaggregate the specific fraction of time or cost dedicated solely to Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) compliance versus general policy and operational work.

We expect National Health Service organisations to follow the law and implement the Supreme Court’s ruling in For Women Scotland Ltd v. The Scottish Ministers, and to take specialist legal advice where necessary.

The Supreme Court ruling made clear in law that single-sex spaces based on biological sex must be protected and my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has been clear that he expects all NHS providers to follow the law.

Now the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Code of Practice for services, public functions, and associations has been laid in Parliament, NHS England is developing guidance, for instance regarding the provision and use of physical NHS staff facilities, which will be published in due course. This will advise employers on the approach they must take to ensure that their relevant policies are up to date and legally compliant.

Work within Judicial Diversity has been a longstanding policy area in the Ministry of Justice, with the current structure operating since 2022.

There are three dedicated roles in the Judicial Diversity team in the Ministry of Justice Policy Group – the team responsible for delivering the Lord Chancellor’s duty to encourage judicial diversity. This represents 2.4 FTE and equates to an expected staffing cost, inclusive of pension contribution and National Insurance, of £176,670 over 2026/27.

In addition to staffing costs, the team has a programme budget in 2026/27 of £83,000 to support this delivery.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Regarding Cabinet Office roles working on trans equality and ‘related policy matters’, the numbers concerned would relate to five individuals or fewer. We therefore cannot provide details in such cases as the individuals concerned could be identifiable. This is standard statistical reporting. This includes the Office for Equality and Opportunity.

Regarding Cabinet Office roles working on trans equality and ‘related policy matters’, the numbers concerned would relate to five individuals or fewer. We therefore cannot provide details in such cases as the individuals concerned could be identifiable. This is standard statistical reporting. This includes the Office for Equality and Opportunity.

The Department is fully compliant with Cabinet Office guidance relating to standalone EDI roles.

The Office for Equality and Opportunity has responsibility for a range of equalities matters. The specific number of staff allocated to work on any particular issue is based on resource need at any one time.

There have been no specific discussions on this with private contractors working in the National Health Service.

Independent organisations commissioned by the NHS in England, such as general practices or social enterprises, are free to develop and adapt their own terms and conditions of employment, including the pay scales that they use. It is for them to determine what is affordable within the financial model they operate.

The Government is committed to ensuring the general practice nursing workforce is sustainable, supported and valued for the work they do.

The Government looks to the independent pay review bodies for a pay recommendation for National Health Service staff, including both contractor and salaried general practitioners (GPs). They consider a range of evidence from organisations including the Government, the NHS and trade unions to reach their recommendations.

The independent review body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) recommended an uplift of 4% to the pay ranges for salaried GPs, and to GP contractor pay. As with the previous year, we accepted the DDRB’s pay recommendation. We provided an increase to core funding for practices to allow this 4% pay uplift, on top of the provisional 2.8% uplift already provided, to be passed on to salaried and contractor GPs. The additional funding also allows for pay uplifts for other salaried general practice staff, including nurses. We expect GP contractors to implement pay rises to other practice staff in line with the uplift in funding they have received.

As self-employed contractors to the NHS, it is up to general practices how they distribute pay and benefits to general practice nurses and other staff. General practice contractual arrangements do not place any specific obligations on practices regarding general practice nurse terms and conditions.

We are investing an additional £1.1 billion in general practice to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26, representing the biggest cash increase in over a decade. The 8.9% boost to the GP contract in 2025/26 is greater than the 5.8% growth to the NHS budget overall.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is committed to becoming a smaller, more agile organisation, better able to deliver tangible benefits for the British people. Staff reductions are being made strategically, with decisions guided by an organisational prioritisation exercise to ensure we retain the capability to deliver UK strength, security, and prosperity.

As this transformation progresses, we remain fully committed to promoting equality for women and girls as a core objective across all major sectors of the Official Development Assistance budget, and as set out in her speech in the FCDO on 24 November, the Foreign Secretary is personally committed to putting the issue of violence against women and girls at the heart of the UK's foreign policy agenda.

The Office for Equality and Opportunity (formerly the Equality Hub) currently has 180 staff members. The Office for Equality and Opportunity leads on Government policy in these areas and is organised into sub-teams. The sub-team names themselves include some of the requested keywords, though individual job titles are generic. The relevant sub-teams and headcounts are:

Some of the keywords (equality, gender, LGBT and race) are contained within some of the sub-team names but not all staff members will have a job title which contains one of the defined keywords. Please also note that the Office for Equality and Opportunity does not lead on Civil Service or Cabinet Office diversity and inclusion matters and so these words are not included in job titles.

Staff employed by Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) and the Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA) have both a Success Profile and an Email Tally. Success Profiles provide outlines of roles, key responsibilities and formal qualifications needed, as well as required technical competences and behaviours, which are aligned to wider Civil Service behaviours. No DE&S or SDA Success Profile title includes the words ‘equality’, ‘diversity’, ‘inclusion’, ‘gender’, ‘LGBT’ or ‘race’.

In DE&S Email Tallies comprise individual’s Profession, Skills Group and a unique number. In SDA Email Tallies are short summaries of an individual’s current team and role. In both cases these appear after individuals’ names in the MOD’s Global Address List.

In total fewer than five members of staff across DE&S and SDA have Email Tallies that include either the word ‘diversity’ and/or the word ‘inclusion’, or abbreviations thereof. No Email Tallies in either DE&S or SDA include the words ‘equality’, ‘gender’, ‘LGBT’ or ‘race’.

There are 34 members of staff (31.56 FTE) working in the central Equality, Diversity and Wellbeing Team based on headcount, this represents 0.07% of the total staff (paid Civil Servants) working for the Home Office. The small increase compared to the answer of 12 March 2024 reflects a combination of factors including

1. Consolidation of standalone EDI roles within business areas into the central HR EDW Team following the publication of the Civil Service EDI Expenditure Guidance: Civil Service Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Guidance - GOV.UK
2. Team members returning to the team who were previously on secondments or temporary roles outside of the team.