Written questions by Wood.

Whether she has had recent discussions with the Local Government Association on the interim guidance being given to councils on the Supreme Court ruling on For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers.

We have always been clear that the For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] Supreme Court ruling should be implemented in full by duty bearers, including local councils. Where necessary, they should seek specialist legal advice. The Equality and Human Rights Commission - as the independent regulator - has submitted a draft Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations to Ministers, and we are working as quickly as we can to review it with the care it deserves. This will provide further guidance to duty bearers on how they should comply with the Equality Act 2010 following the Supreme Court ruling.

Pursuant to the answer of 10 November 2025 to Question 85184 on Office for Equality and Opportunity: Finance, whether the office plans to make efficiency savings; and what the change in staff headcount was from 2024-25 to 2025-26.

The Office for Equality and Opportunity (OEO) is committed to ensuring that Britain’s equality framework remains robust and fit for the future. OEO’s budget and resource allocation are subject to rigorous business planning and governance to ensure delivery of maximum value for the taxpayer.For the current financial year (2025/26), as part of a wider Cabinet Office exercise, we identified and committed to an in-year programme budget reduction. These savings are being realised through operational streamlining and a focus on cost-effective delivery.OEO’s staff headcount has increased from 142.5 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) in 2024-25 to up to 184 FTE staff in the current year. This increase, agreed by Ministers, ensures OEO is properly resourced to manage a substantial and long-term programme of work in line with the Government’s manifesto commitments, missions and other priorities.

What her planned timetable is for the consultation and implementation of ethnicity and disability pay reporting; and whether she has produced an Impact Assessment.

As set out in our manifesto and in the King’s Speech last July, the government remains committed to introducing mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers. Our consultation on ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting closed on 10 June. Good progress has been made in analysing the responses and developing our policy and legislative approach.The regulatory impact assessment for these measures has been produced.We will publish the Government response to the ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting consultation in due course .

Pursuant to the answer of 10 October 2025, to Question 73484, on Health Services: Equality, whether she has a definition of (a) “working class communities” and (b) “working class jobs”.

As given in the answer of 8th October, the 10-Year Health Plan refers both to “working class jobs” and “working class communities”. These terms are used in the standard way they are used in English to indicate people who are employed for wages and generally experience greater job insecurity, lower benefits, and less financial security than others in society.

If she will make it his policy not to refer to working class people as having a lower socio-economic status.

As given in the answer of 8th October, the term ‘working class’ was used in the 10-Year Health Plan in the standard way that it is used in English, that is to indicate people who are employed for wages and generally experience greater job insecurity and less financial security than others in society.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 October 2025 to Question 70488 on Common Purpose: Finance, what the (a) cost and (b) topic of that training was.

Common Purpose was paid £6,900.00 to provide a one-off day of team development covering the subject of ‘leadership’ for the Office of Equality and Opportunity in February 2025.

Pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2025 to Question 82677 on Civil Service: Equality, whether the Office for Equality and Opportunity will provide guidance on staff diversity networks to the wider public sector.

The Civil Service does not have responsibility for staff networks in other public sector organisations and therefore does not issue any such guidance.

With reference to Annex 1 of the Better Regulation Framework Guidance, September 2023, whether the court judgment exemption will be applied in relation to the requirement for a Regulatory Impact Assessment for the Equality and Human Rights Commission's updated statutory Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Association.

The EHRC has revised its Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations following the consultation and submitted it to the Minister for Women and Equalities. The Government is considering the updated draft Code and, if the decision is taken to approve it, the Code will be laid before Parliament for a 40 day period. The Government will follow the appropriate process when considering the Code.

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 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.

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.

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 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

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

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.