Written questions by Wood.

Whether the Office for Equality and Opportunity has undertaken any expenditure on branded goods since the Government Chief Commercial Officer letter.

Awaiting answer.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2026, to Question 9614, on Equality: Impact Assessments, whether her Department plans to publish new guidance on the issue.

Awaiting answer.

Pursuant to the answer of 30 June 2026, to Question 9612, on EHRC: Code of Practice, if she will itemise the changes made between the draft of September 2025 and the updated version of April 2026; and whether there were additional changes made to the April 2026 version.

Awaiting answer.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2026, to Question 9890, on Equality, whether she plans to undertake a public consultation on the statutory guidance on the socio-economic duty.

Awaiting answer.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2026, to Question 9611, on Council of Europe: LGBT+ People, and with reference to the Council of Europe website referenced in the answer, what is the nature of the activity in relation to the key objectives of providing alternatives to gender-critical narratives; and what her Department's policy is on combatting gender-criticism.

Awaiting answer.

Further to her Department's press release entitled UK to host European IDAHOT+ Forum 2027, published on 19 May 2026, if she will provide a breakdown of the grants to be given out from the £21 million funding package, who will receive grants, how much to each organisation, and for what purpose and terms of reference.

Awaiting answer.

With reference to the answer of 29 April 2026 to Question HL16424 on Intelligence Services: Voluntary Work, whether the Office for Equality and Opportunity have advised on the status of White Irish as an ethni

No. The Office for Equality and Opportunity (OEO) signposts government departments to ethnicity standards set by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), an independent organisation. However, it is down to individual departments to decide whether categor...

How many and what proportion of full-time staff on full pay in the Office for Equality and Opportunity work compressed hours over a four day week.

The Office for Equality and Opportunity (OEO) does not centrally hold data on employees working compressed hours. Working compressed hours is a form of flexible working and is agreed and arranged between individual employees and their line managers.

With reference to the answer of 27 April 2026 to Question 129027 on Equality: Impact Assessments, how that approach to equalities impact assessments will be (a) delivered and (b) enforced.

Our ongoing work is focused on making Equality Impact Assessments (EqIAs) more targeted, scaled correctly to the policy in question, and effective at driving inclusive outcomes, rather than just acting as an administrative hurdle.EqIAs are not a requireme...

With reference to the Equality Act 2010: Draft Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations, 2026, published on 21 May 2026, if she will outline the changes that the Government requested to

We followed a very specific process outlined in the Equality Act 2006. Following the For Women Scotland ruling, the EHRC submitted a draft to us in September 2025. EHRC continued to work on it and submitted an updated version in April 2026. They made the ...

Pursuant to the answer of 20 May 2026 to Question 1185 on Council of Europe: LGBT+ People, what (a) is the name of the government funded project and (b) are the 36 activities that it has supported.

Pursuant to the answer of 20 May 2026 to Question 1185 regarding the Council of Europe: LGBT+ People, the supported project is officially titled "Promoting human rights and equality for LGBTI persons."Information regarding the project's scope is...

What the budget is for the UK to host the European IDAHOT+ Forum 2027.

In accordance with standard practice, additional information regarding the event, including associated costs, will be released at the appropriate time. Officials are working to ensure the event is delivered as cost-effectively as possible, in line with th...

With reference to the Cabinet Office spend data, Expenditure Over £25,000 - March 2026 (Cabinet Office Core), updated on 30 April 2025, what the transaction for SOCIAL MOBILITY COMMISSION (PROG) to THE INSTITU

The Social Mobility Commission (SMC) is an independent advisory Arm’s Length Body, sponsored by the Office for Equality and Opportunity. The SMC makes its own decisions on spending within their set budget. This question has been passed to the SMC, who wil...

With reference to Contractfinder, Provision of socio-legal research into equal pay and combined discrimination - Lot 2, Ref: CCZZ24A18 - Lot 2, whether the research has been completed.

This response provides an update to PQ 122163. The research has been carried out and the report is undergoing quality assurance and clearance in line with the GSR publication protocol. It will be published in due course.

How many civil service jobs in the Women and Equalities Unit has been advertised on the (a) public site and (b) internal site of the Civil Service website since July 2024.

The Women and Equalities Unit is the name given to the section of the Office for Equality and Opportunity responsible for women’s equality, LGBT+ equality, and the overall framework of equality legislation in the UK. This is 3 teams in total. There were 2...

If she will list the organisations that have (a) had departmental civil servants seconded to and (b) seconded organisational staff to the Women and Equalities Unit since July 2024.

(a) There have been no OEO civil servants seconded to other organisations(b) There have been no secondments into the Women's Equality Division since July 2024.

With reference to the transparency data entitled Expenditure Over £25,000 - February 2026 (Cabinet Office Core), published on 26 March 2026, what activities will be funded through the LGBT programme to the Cou

The UK Government provided a one-off voluntary contribution to support the work of the Council of Europe’s LGBT+ programme. This programme funds activities designed to enhance the legislative and institutional capacities of national stakeholders, ensuring...

Whether she plans to publish a (a) summary of responses and (b) response to the Equality law call for evidence, published on 7 April 2025, for the measures not covered by the Consultation on mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting: government response, of 25 March 2026; and what the status is of the socio-economic duty proposal.

This Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, no matter their background, can thrive. Therefore, as set out in our response to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s Module 2 report, we agree with the recommendation that commencement of the socio-economic duty could drive the routine consideration of the impact decisions might have on those most at risk in an emergency.The Government is giving careful consideration to responses to the equality law call for evidence as we consider next steps. We will publish a summary of responses and a Government response in due course on: https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/equality-law-call-for-evidence. The socio-economic duty will require specified public bodies to actively consider how their strategic decisions might help to reduce the inequalities of outcome associated with socio-economic disadvantage. We are now taking forward work to make sure that commencement of the duty in England is as effective as possible.

Pursuant to the answer of 2 March 2026, to Question 112642, on Business: Codes of Practice, whether she will produce a (a) full and (b) partial impact assessment.

To reiterate we have always been clear that the proper process needs to be followed, which includes understanding the potential impact on businesses, public functions and services. The EHRC has been asked to provide some information on costs and an Equality Impact Assessment.The Code will have implications for service providers up and down the country so it is important that we get this right.

With reference to Contractfinder, Provision of socio-legal research into equal pay and combined discrimination - Lot 2, Ref: CCZZ24A18 - Lot 2, whether the research has been completed.

In 2025, the Office for Equality and Opportunity commissioned new research on equal pay and combined discrimination.This research is currently underway, and we will provide an update in due course.​​