News story

New large-scale data project will get to the heart of disparities

The Minister for Women and Equalities has today announced the Government's Equality Data Programme to better understand the barriers people face across the UK.

• From: Equality Hub, Government Equalities Office, Social Mobility Commission, Race Disparity Unit, Disability Unit and The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss
• Published: 17 December 2020
• Last updated: 28 February 2023 — See all updates

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

The Equality Data Programme is the Government’s broadest and most comprehensive equality data project. The large-scale project will gather data in order to better understand the barriers that people from every background are facing across the UK.

The work will consider a wide range of issues, such as geography and social background, and will deliver on a manifesto commitment to improve evidence on equality and to support levelling up ambitions. The information gathered will be used to inform policy decisions across government, and will allow the Equality Hub to deliver on the public’s priorities.

The Government is taking a new approach to tackling inequality in the UK. We will use data to determine where inequality lies and where people are held back.

The Equality Data Programme will get to the heart of the disparities people are facing to ensure real inequalities are addressed, using more data than ever to ensure our policies work.

Read the press release.

Edit:

The data gathered as part of the piece of work was published by the ONS in January 2023.

Published 17 December 2020
Last updated 28 February 2023 + show all updates

1. 28 February 2023

   Updated to link to the data gathered as part of the piece of work, was published by the ONS in January 2023.

2. 17 December 2020

   First published.