Recommendation 26

HM Government Not Addressed

One of the key goals of the Equality Hub is to ensure the measures the Government takes to ensure fairness are based on evidence. The Hub will consider issues like geography and social background, alongside the protected characteristics, within an Equality Data Programme that will enable a better understanding of where individuals are being held back across the UK. This programme sits alongside ONS’s Inclusive Data Taskforce, which aims to close existing data gaps with timely, comprehensive and disaggregated data so that everyone counts, and is counted, and no one is forgotten. Together these programmes will support the development of policy across Government to make the UK a fairer place to live and do business, ensuring no one is left behind. Equality is every department’s business, not just the work of the Equality Hub, and the Hub will continue to work closely across government to share evidence and data to help identify barriers. All departments ensure that equality considerations are at the heart of their decision-making; this is key to the Government’s commitment to delivering equality of opportunity for all as well as complying with legal requirements under the public sector equality duty. While Equality Impact Assessments are part of that process, the Government believes they should not routinely be made public as Ministers need to be able to have full and frank discussions about the potential impacts of their decisions as they make decisions to ensure no one is left behind. When designing the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme policies and subsequent reforms, advice to Ministers included an analysis of how the policies were likely to affect individuals with different protected characteristics. The Equality Hub also works with other departments to ensure they publish substantive equality objectives as part of their departmental plans. The new Outcome Delivery Plans (ODPs) aim to improve and build on previous Single Departmental Plans (SDPs). Departments have been asked to include several specific and measurable equality objectives relating to policy and service delivery in their ODPs. Publishing equality objectives as part of core departmental planning processes means that performance against these objectives is measured and transparent. It is important that data and evidence is used to drive change. Evidence suggests that techniques like unconscious bias training, quotas and diversity statements often do too little to make the workplace fundamentally fairer, but changing systems can be effective—for example when companies publish their wage ranges it leads to more equal starting points for men and women. Due to the unprecedented circumstances currently facing employers, the EHRC announced that employers will have until 5 October 2021 to report their gender pay gap information. The changes for the 2020/21 reporting year gives those required to meet the regulations an additional six months to report their data before legal action begins. The Government is fully committed to women’s economic empowerment but, given the impact of the pandemic on businesses, extending the deadline by six months is the right and sensible thing to do. Lots of positive work has been done by employers to encourage equality in the workplace. ONS have continued to measure the national gender pay gap, and figures show that the gender pay gap stands at a record low. The Equality Hub will continue to provide the necessary support to employers reporting their gender pay gap data throughout this additional time period. The Government will continue to increase competition, boost transparency and improve choice, opening up opportunities, and by placing the Equality Hub at the heart of Government we can ensure those opportunities are available for everyone.