Written questions by Wood.

Whether she plans to extend the number of public bodies subject to the socio-economic duty under section 2 of the Equality Act 2010.

The Government is committed to commencing the socio-economic duty in the Equality Act 2010. The duty will require specified public bodies, when making strategic decisions, to consider actively how their decisions might help to reduce the inequalities associated with socio-economic disadvantage. We will consider whether the list of public authorities to which the duty will apply requires updating as part of our research programme and evidence gathering.

Pursuant to the Answer of 19 May 2025 to Question 51461 on the Equal Pay Regulatory and Enforcement Unit, whether the Unit will be separate to the Fair Work Agency.

As set out in Next Steps to Make Work Pay, the government is committed to establishing an Equal Pay Regulatory and Enforcement Unit. In April we launched a call for evidence on how enforcement of the equal pay scheme could be improved as well as a number of other areas of equality policy. This included consideration of the establishment of the Unit and its institutional home. We will consider the responses to the call for evidence, which closed at the end of June, and confirm next steps in due course.

Whether there are restrictions on internship applications to the (a) Office for Equality and Opportunity and (b) Equality and Human Rights Commission in (i) 2025 and (ii) 2026.

As the Office for Equality and Opportunity is part of the Cabinet Office, we follow Cabinet Office recruitment policies, including recruitment of interns. There is not a single universal rule for Cabinet Office internships as eligibility and restrictions vary by the specific internship scheme and the individual advert. In August 2025, a new policy was introduced to broaden access for working-class students to the Civil Service. OEO will apply this guidance to future intern recruitment, with the programme launching in 2026. The Equality and Human Rights Commission is an independent regulator and follows a similar approach as all roles are advertised Civil Service Jobs.

Whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to allow claims for combined discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.

In our manifesto, we committed to strengthening protections against dual discrimination and in April we launched a call for evidence on this commitment, as well as a number of other areas of equality law. We will consider the responses to the call for evidence, which closed at the end of June, and confirm next steps in due course.

Whether White Irish is included in the Government’s ethnicity definition of White Other.

The Government Statistical Service’s Ethnicity Harmonised Standard provides best practice for data collection across government, and it recommends that White Irish is collected as a standalone category, distinct from White Other.

If she will issue guidance to regulators that they should not impose equality, diversity and inclusion requirements which have not been approved by legislation.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given on 12 June 2025 to PQ 59367.

Whether the budget for the Office for Equality of Opportunity has increased since October 2024.

The Office for Equality and Opportunity (OEO) overall budget has increased from £16.2m in 2024-25 to £17.7m in 2025-26. Further details will be provided, in the usual way, in the Cabinet Office’s accounts.

With reference to the style guide entitled Writing about ethnicity, updated in October 2024, for what reason references to travellers were capitalised.

In October 2024, the style guide ‘Writing about ethnicity’ on the Ethnicity facts and figures website was updated. While the guide makes no direct reference to the capitalisation of references to Travellers, a capital letter was used to align with the Government Analysis Function's harmonised standard for ethnicity, based on the 2011 Census. This standard is also followed by the Office for National Statistics in its service manual.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2025 to Question 62348o n EHRC: Public Appointments, whether he will announce to appointment on conclusion of the competition on the Public Appointments website.

Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson was confirmed as the next Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission on 31 July 2025. This was announced in a press release which you can view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-confirms-dr-mary-ann-stephenson-as-the-next-ehrc-chair On 31 July 2025, the announcement was posted on the Public Appointments website on a separate webpage here:https://apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/announcements?titleSearch=+Equality+and+Human+Rights+Commission+%28EHRC%29+Chair&body=&regulated=&bodyJustice=&sort=announcementDate%3Adesc#search-results

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2025 to Question 62348 on EHRC: Public Appointments, what interests of regulated appointees by the Governance Code on Public Appointments are required to be published.

Section 9.1 of the Governance Code for Public Appointments states “candidates must be asked to declare potential conflicts of interest in their application.”. The EHRC publishes the declarations of interests of its Chair and Commissioners on their website: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/about-us/how-we-operate/our-commissioners/commissioner-declarations-interests

Whether her Department has commissioned any external research on the proposed socio-economic duty.

The Government is committed to commencing the socio-economic duty in the Equality Act 2010. We will work in partnership with public authorities, civil society and others in order to ensure that the implementation of the duty is as effective as possible. As part of this, we are currently analysing responses to the call for evidence on equality law, which included several questions relating to the socio-economic duty. We will also consult on draft statutory guidance in order to ensure it addresses the needs of public bodies and civil society and supports effective implementation. No external research relating to the socio-economic duty has been commissioned.

Whether the Cabinet Office has funded Common Purpose since 4 July 2024.

Common Purpose was paid to provide a one-off day of team development for the Office of Equality and Opportunity in February 2025.

With reference to the FCDO press release entitled LGBTQIA+ Legal Guidebook launched in Philippines for Pride Month, published on 23 June 2025, whether her Department has a policy on the use of the phrase LGBTQIA+; and whether it has replaced (a) LGBT and (b) LGBT+.

The Office for Equality and Opportunity does not mandate the use of any particular acronym in reference to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office works with a range of organisations globally to protect and promote the human rights of the most vulnerable communities. The Government uses LGBT+ in communications and publications, as these are widely recognised and understood.

Whether she has issued guidance on whether regulators should impose equality, diversity and inclusion requirements on regulated entities where such requirements are not set out in primary or secondary legislation.

The Office for Equality and Opportunity has not issued guidance on whether regulators should impose equality, diversity and inclusion requirements on regulated entities.

What estimate she has made of the regulatory cost of producing Equality Impact Assessments; and whether the Government plans to take steps to reduce the compliance cost of producing them.

Where a public body decides to undertake an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) to fulfill its Public Sector Equality Duty obligations, this would be funded as part of the organisation’s administrative budget. EIAs are well embedded in Government policy making and are not considered an additional cost but part of mainstream administrative functions. In fact, EIAs are likely overall to reduce costs for public bodies, because the entailed analysis and discussion, by highlighting any equality issues greatly reduces the risk of subsequent litigation for alleged law breaches resulting from the particular policy.

Pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2024 to Question 15471 on Office for Equality and Opportunity: Gender and Sexuality, what definition of (a) gender, (b) sexual orientation and (c) gender identity are used by diversity networks funded by his Department.

There is no definition of gender, sexual orientation or gender identity formally recognised and used by the diversity networks in the Cabinet Office.

With reference to the press notice entitled Radical action plan to cut red tape and kickstart growth, published on 17 March 2025, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of measures in the Equality law call for evidence, published on 7 April 2025, on the Government's target to reduce the administrative cost of regulation on business by a quarter.

The Call for Evidence on Equality Law, published on 7 April 2025, seeks evidence on how we can better remove barriers to ambition and success for everyone, to improve the lives of working people and strengthen our country as part of our Plan for Change.The purpose of the Call for Evidence is not to put forward detailed policy proposals and it would therefore not be possible or appropriate to produce an impact assessment at this stage. All evidence submitted to the Call for Evidence will be taken into account when developing policy. We will assess the impact of any proposed policy in the normal way, working in partnership with business, trade unions and civil society, to ensure any potential impacts are fully considered.

With reference to the guidance entitled Response to call for input on single-sex spaces guidance, published on 17 December 2024, if she will publish each of the non-confidential responses.

The Government is sharing with the EHRC all the submissions that met the criteria of the previous Government’s call for input on single-sex spaces guidance. It is vitally important that service providers understand the single-sex service exceptions in the Equality Act 2010 and feel confident using them. The Government has committed to ensuring that there is guidance in place which gives service providers assurance about the rights afforded by the Act and how to lawfully apply its single-sex exceptions. We will set out our next steps on this soon.

With reference to her Departments document entitled Response to call for input on single-sex spaces guidance, published on 17 December 2024, when she will publish new guidance; and whether (a) her Department and (b) the Equality and Human Rights Commission will consult on that guidance.

The Government is sharing with the EHRC all the submissions that met the criteria of the previous Government’s call for input on single-sex spaces guidance. It is vitally important that service providers understand the single-sex service exceptions in the Equality Act 2010 and feel confident using them. The Government has committed to ensuring that there is guidance in place which gives service providers assurance about the rights afforded by the Act and how to lawfully apply its single-sex exceptions. We will set out our next steps on this soon.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2025 to Question HL4540 on Local Government: Equality, whether (a) the Cabinet Office, (b) the Office for Women and Equality and (c) the Equality and Human Rights Commission consider that being gender fluid or gender neutral constitutes the protected characteristic of gender reassignment.

The Equality Act defines the protected characteristic of gender reassignment as a person that is proposing to undergo, is undergoing or has undergone a process (or part of a process) for the purpose of gender reassignment.