Written questions by Coutinho.

When she plans to publish the Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill.

As set out in our manifesto and in the King’s Speech in July 2024, the government is committed to introducing mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers and making the right to equal pay effective for ethnic minority and disabled people. Good progress has been made in developing the policy and legislative approach to ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting following the public consultation last year. In 2025, we published a call for evidence on equality law which included consideration of how we make the right to equal pay effective for ethnic minority and disabled people. It closed at the end of June, and we are now working to analyse the responses. We will publish the government response to the ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting consultation, as well as sharing an update on the Bill soon.

If she will publish a list of the organisations the Race Equality Engagement Group has (a) met with and (b) engaged with since it was appointed.

On 25 September 2025 the Race Equality Engagement Group (REEG) held its first thematic roundtable covering tackling the barriers to accessing finance and investment for ethnic minority entrepreneurs, and the Police Race Action Plan. On 9 December 2025 the REEG held its second thematic roundtable and community engagement session, focusing on racial inequalities in maternal and neonatal health and cardiovascular disease. The Group has met with a broad range of stakeholders with lived experience, and from key government departments, civil society, community groups and institutions. In line with the REEG’s Terms of Reference, these meetings are supporting efforts to strengthen the government’s links with ethnic minority communities and enable constructive dialogue on the government’s plans to tackle race inequalities.

With reference to the statutory guidance entitled Preparing your data, updated on 11 August 2025, for what reason it is her policy that an employer may exclude an employee who does not self-identify as either gender from the relevant calculations.

The current gender pay gap reporting guidance was drafted in order to reduce the burden on business, and be mindful of variations in their data collection processes. This part of the guidance has not been updated recently. We regularly look at a range of considerations when it comes to gender pay gap reporting and updating existing guidance, and we will continue to do so. For example, while the reference to non-binary employees has not been recently updated, a different section of the guidance was updated on 11 August 2025 to publish the latest Behaviour Insights Guidance for employers. We recognise the Supreme Court judgment has changed the landscape in this area; and we are carefully contemplating the impact of the ruling.

Whether she plans to publish terms of reference for the Race Equality Engagement Group.

The appointment process for Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon and the other members of the Race Equality Engagement Group (REEG) was informal ministerial appointment, by invitation, following appropriate due diligence checks.This government will publish the terms of reference for the REEG, and the full membership, in due course.REEG members will not be remunerated but will be reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred in respect of the work of the REEG.Members are expected to declare any conflicts of interest and to recuse themselves from any work where such a conflict, or perceived conflict, may arise.The REEG will be supported by the Race Equality Unit, in the Office for Equality and Opportunity, from its existing allocation of staff.

What process was used to appoint Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon as Chair of the Race Equality Engagement Group.

The appointment process for Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon and the other members of the Race Equality Engagement Group (REEG) was informal ministerial appointment, by invitation, following appropriate due diligence checks.This government will publish the terms of reference for the REEG, and the full membership, in due course.REEG members will not be remunerated but will be reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred in respect of the work of the REEG.Members are expected to declare any conflicts of interest and to recuse themselves from any work where such a conflict, or perceived conflict, may arise.The REEG will be supported by the Race Equality Unit, in the Office for Equality and Opportunity, from its existing allocation of staff.

Whether members of the Race Equality Engagement Group will subject to an assessment of any (a) potential and (b) actual conflicts of interest.

The appointment process for Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon and the other members of the Race Equality Engagement Group (REEG) was informal ministerial appointment, by invitation, following appropriate due diligence checks.This government will publish the terms of reference for the REEG, and the full membership, in due course.REEG members will not be remunerated but will be reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred in respect of the work of the REEG.Members are expected to declare any conflicts of interest and to recuse themselves from any work where such a conflict, or perceived conflict, may arise.The REEG will be supported by the Race Equality Unit, in the Office for Equality and Opportunity, from its existing allocation of staff.

When she plans to announce the members of the Race Equality Engagement Group.

The appointment process for Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon and the other members of the Race Equality Engagement Group (REEG) was informal ministerial appointment, by invitation, following appropriate due diligence checks.This government will publish the terms of reference for the REEG, and the full membership, in due course.REEG members will not be remunerated but will be reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred in respect of the work of the REEG.Members are expected to declare any conflicts of interest and to recuse themselves from any work where such a conflict, or perceived conflict, may arise.The REEG will be supported by the Race Equality Unit, in the Office for Equality and Opportunity, from its existing allocation of staff.

What process will be used to appoint members of the Race Equality Engagement Group.

The appointment process for Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon and the other members of the Race Equality Engagement Group (REEG) was informal ministerial appointment, by invitation, following appropriate due diligence checks.This government will publish the terms of reference for the REEG, and the full membership, in due course.REEG members will not be remunerated but will be reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred in respect of the work of the REEG.Members are expected to declare any conflicts of interest and to recuse themselves from any work where such a conflict, or perceived conflict, may arise.The REEG will be supported by the Race Equality Unit, in the Office for Equality and Opportunity, from its existing allocation of staff.

How many full time equivalent civil service staff will be allocated to support the work of the Race Equality Engagement Group.

The appointment process for Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon and the other members of the Race Equality Engagement Group (REEG) was informal ministerial appointment, by invitation, following appropriate due diligence checks.This government will publish the terms of reference for the REEG, and the full membership, in due course.REEG members will not be remunerated but will be reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred in respect of the work of the REEG.Members are expected to declare any conflicts of interest and to recuse themselves from any work where such a conflict, or perceived conflict, may arise.The REEG will be supported by the Race Equality Unit, in the Office for Equality and Opportunity, from its existing allocation of staff.

Whether the members of the Race Equality Engagement Group will be remunerated.

The appointment process for Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon and the other members of the Race Equality Engagement Group (REEG) was informal ministerial appointment, by invitation, following appropriate due diligence checks.This government will publish the terms of reference for the REEG, and the full membership, in due course.REEG members will not be remunerated but will be reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred in respect of the work of the REEG.Members are expected to declare any conflicts of interest and to recuse themselves from any work where such a conflict, or perceived conflict, may arise.The REEG will be supported by the Race Equality Unit, in the Office for Equality and Opportunity, from its existing allocation of staff.

If she will direct her Department to share all submissions received for the call for input on single-sex spaces with the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The Government has written to the EHRC to confirm that we will share all the submissions which met the criteria of the previous Government’s call for input on single-sex spaces guidance.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2025 to Question 21052 on Gender: Public Consultation, if she will publish the submissions to the call for input on single-sex spaces which were determined to have met the submission criteria.

The Government has written to the EHRC to confirm that we will share all the submissions with them which met the criteria of the previous Government’s call for input on single-sex spaces guidance in due course.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2025 to Question 21052 on Gender: Public Consultation, if she will publish the submissions to the call for input on single-sex spaces which were determined not to meet the criteria because they contained text which was irrelevant to the request.

The Government has written to the EHRC to confirm that we will share all the submissions with them which met the criteria of the previous Government’s call for input on single-sex spaces guidance in due course.

If she will publish all submissions to the call for input on single-sex spaces that were determined to have misinterpreted the Equality Act 2010.

The submissions to the previous Government’s call for input on single-sex spaces guidance which seem to have misinterpreted the Equality Act 2010 have been sent to the EHRC, as the relevant independent regulator, for further review.

With reference to the her Department's publication eneitled Response to call for input on single-sex spaces guidance, published 17 December 2024, how many submissions were received in total.

The call for input on single-sex spaces guidance asked specifically for examples of policy or guidance ‘which states that people have a legal right to access single-sex spaces and services according to their self-identified gender’.A total of 3,272 responses (excluding spam or ‘bot’ submissions) were received. Manual review of these responses found that many did not meet the criteria outlined on the call for input gov.uk page under ‘How to respond’. Some responses contained text which was irrelevant to the request (2,160). Some responses did not contain an attachment or a link to a policy or guidance (255). Some responses provided examples that were outside the criteria (196). Some responses met the criteria but provided examples of policies or guidance duplicated by other responses (257). The final sample comprised 404 responses which met the criteria.

With reference to the Response to call for input on single-sex spaces guidance, published on 17 December 2024, if she will publish (a) a list of reasons for submissions being rejected for not meeting the submission criteria and (b) how many submissions were rejected for each reason.

The call for input on single-sex spaces guidance asked specifically for examples of policy or guidance ‘which states that people have a legal right to access single-sex spaces and services according to their self-identified gender’.A total of 3,272 responses (excluding spam or ‘bot’ submissions) were received. Manual review of these responses found that many did not meet the criteria outlined on the call for input gov.uk page under ‘How to respond’. Some responses contained text which was irrelevant to the request (2,160). Some responses did not contain an attachment or a link to a policy or guidance (255). Some responses provided examples that were outside the criteria (196). Some responses met the criteria but provided examples of policies or guidance duplicated by other responses (257). The final sample comprised 404 responses which met the criteria.

If she will remove Germany from the Gender Recognition Certificate: list of approved countries and territories.

The Gender Recognition (Approved Countries and Territories and Saving Provision) Order 2023 was approved by Parliament in April 2024, the first update to the list of approved countries in 13 years.We are committed to more regularly updating the list of approved countries and territories when applying for gender recognition in the UK. We continue to work with our counterparts in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to ensure that any changes internationally are monitored and noted for future updates.

What guidance the Office for Equality and Opportunities has produced on whether positive discrimination on the basis of gender identity is permitted under the Equality Act 2010.

Positive discrimination is treatment which favours someone solely because he or she has a particular protected characteristic such as their sex or race. Positive discrimination is generally unlawful under the Equality Act 2010 and therefore guidance has not been issued.

What her planned timetable is for the publication of the response to the call for evidence on single-sex spaces; and how many responses to the call for evidence have been received.

We will publish a response to the call for input on single-sex spaces guidance, including the number of valid responses, in due course.