Policy paper

Government Equalities Office strategic plan 2019 to 2020

Published 3 July 2019

This was published under the 2016 to 2019 May Conservative government

Our vision

The government is committed to tackling the burning injustices that are created by the enduring inequalities that exist in our country. Tackling these is an essential part of the government’s vision to build a country that works for everyone. We need to strip away the barriers that hold people back so that everyone can go as far as their hard work and talent can take them.

At the Government Equalities Office, our mission to end discrimination and create a more inclusive society is central to that vision. From our new permanent home at the heart of government we will help to better articulate and co-ordinate a national mission to help everyone to tackle inequality. Working alongside the Race Disparity Unit, the new cross-cutting Disability Unit and others, we will be part of an Equalities Hub for all parts of central government and beyond. There are many committed to the cause of equality and working hard to deliver it. We will work in partnership with those people and organisations – local government, public bodies, businesses, sector bodies, academics, charities, community and interest groups and individuals – applying the best solutions, wherever they are from.

Our enhanced reach, from within the Cabinet Office, will build on our continuing leadership on policy relating to women, sexual orientation and transgender equality and maintaining and protecting the integrity of our equalities legislation and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

Too many in our society lack the support others take for granted to achieve their full potential, and face barriers to being as resilient as they can be. By continuing to dismantle these barriers and backing everyone to succeed, we can progress towards ensuring that everyone in the UK has as much freedom and choice, capacity and resilience, and support and protection, to be all they can be.

Strategic objectives

Our 4 strategic objectives for 2019/20:

• to put equalities at the heart of government

• to empower women to reach their full potential

• to advance equality for LGBT people

• to ensure our laws protect equality and provide equal rights for all

Strategic objective 1: to put equalities at the heart of government

We will lead a joined up approach to tackling inequality across government.

Setting the strategy for government by:

• working across government to ensure equalities are taken full account of in planning and policy development, including through the Spending Review, Single Departmental Plans and the Strategic Framework
• working with other government departments to deliver the Gender Equality Roadmap
• launching an annual Gender Equality Monitor to publish key gender equality metrics
• working with other government departments to deliver the LGBT Action Plan

Working across government on specific projects in 2019/20 to tackle inequalities by:

• joining up with the Race Disparity Unit, the new cross-cutting Disability Unit and others to better understand what can be learned from our data, such as how possession of more than one protected characteristic can lead to compounding inequalities and disparities
• setting up an advisory taskforce to find sustainable and comprehensive solutions to period poverty
• working with political parties to ensure disabled candidates are properly supported
• streamlining cross-government communications to employers around diversity and inclusion and simplifying gender pay gap reporting requirements

Being an international trailblazer and exceeding our international commitments by:

• leading on gender equality developments globally, fulfilling our international obligations and driving forward progress to achieve Sustainable Development Goals 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls) and 10 (Reduce inequality within and among countries)
• delivering an international conference on LGBT issues around the world, in partnership with the Department for International and Development (DFID) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)

Strategic objective 2: to empower all women to reach their full potential.

We will deliver the Gender Equality Roadmap, working across government and in partnership with civil society and employers.

We will increase women’s economic empowerment by:

• working with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to monitor how the pensions system is working for women and help women in low paid, low skilled work to progress
• supporting programmes for people who have been out of work due to caring responsibilities and who want to return to work, including marginalised women
• working with a diverse range of small to medium enterprises (SMEs) across England to develop their recruitment and employment practices so that more opportunities are accessible to people returning to work after taking time out for caring responsibilities

We will close the gender pay gap by:

• ensuring transparency in all large organisations through annual reporting of their gender pay gap, and effective action plans to address it
• developing sector-based actions for the areas with the worst inequalities and working with partners like the Women’s Business Council to drive action
• continuing to develop our evidence base on what works to tackle inequality at work and using this evidence to support employers of all sizes to take action
• supporting smaller employers to close their pay gaps and continuing to encourage voluntary reporting of pay gaps by SMEs
• working with the Hampton Alexander Review to increase the proportion of women in senior positions in large businesses

We will help parents and carers to make informed choices by:

• working with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to evaluate the parental leave system to ensure it enables a better balance of caring between men and women and consider next steps on modernising the system
• working with BEIS, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the Department for Education (DfE), DWP, the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and HM Treasury (HMT) to provide better and more joined-up information that parents want and need on childcare support, parental leave, family friendly policies, and the first 1001 days
• improving uptake of flexible-working, including by supporting BEIS to consult on creating a duty for employers to consider whether a job can be done flexibly at advertising stage

We will tackle discrimination, violence and health inequalities faced by women by:

• conducting a survey to better understand sexual harassment, consulting on legal protections and developing policy interventions
• supporting DHSC to deliver a Reproductive Health Action Plan and Women’s Health Taskforce to improve women’s health across the life-course

We will tackle negative gender stereotyping by:

• building our evidence base on gender stereotyping issues and developing policy interventions
• supporting educators and community influencers by researching the best way to talk to men and boys about harmful stereotypes
• working with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DMCS) and the advertising industry to challenge harmful stereotyping
• working with DfE to increase girls’ take up of, and interest in, Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths

Strategic objective 3: to advance equality for LGBT people

We will deliver the LGBT Action Plan, working across government and society to deliver its 75 commitments.

Improving LGBT people’s experiences of our health and allied services by:

• supporting the national LGBT health adviser to provide leadership on reducing the health inequalities that LGBT people face
• tackling LGBT health inequalities in partnership with the five grantee organisations of the £1m LGBT Health Grant programme
• working with DHSC to jointly develop a plan focused on reducing suicides amongst the LGBT population
• producing advice about the Gender Recognition Act for GP surgeries and gender identity clinics

Supporting LGBT people in education by:

• delivering our extended anti-homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying programme in schools across England with £1m of additional funding
• working with the EHRC to publish comprehensive guidance for schools on how to support trans pupils
• updating the statutory guidance on Relationship Education and Relationships and Sex Education.

Improving consideration of LGBT people across public services and in the law by:

• reviewing the Gender Recognition Act 2004 to consider how we might reform the Act to make it less bureaucratic and intrusive for the people that use it
• reviewing responses to our call for evidence on the issues faced by people with variations in sex characteristics and launch a further call for evidence on the issues faced by non-binary people
• working with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Government Statistical Service to develop monitoring standards for sexual orientation and gender identity across central government

Strengthening the safety of LGBT people by:

• bringing forward proposals to end the practice of conversion therapy in the UK
• researching the experiences of LGBT homeless people and auditing existing service provision so as to provide non-statutory guidance for local authorities on how best to provide support
• working with the Home Office, Ministry of Justice and the Law Commission to review Hate Crime Legislation so as to better reflect the experiences and needs of LGBT people

Strategic objective 4: to ensure our laws protect equality and provide equal rights for all.

Ensuring our equalities legislation is world-leading and fit for purpose by:

• ensuring protections covered in and under the Equality Act 2006, the Equality Act 2010 and equivalent legislation in Northern Ireland continue to apply as and after the UK leaves the EU
• delivering civil partnerships for opposite sex partners by the end of 2019
• ensuring the Equality Advisory Support Service continues to advise and assist individuals on issues relating to equality to a high standard

Ensuring effective enforcement of equalities legislation by:

• improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the EHRC as a regulator, including by monitoring the implementation of recommendations in the 2018 Tailored Review

Annex A: Our budget

The Government Equalities Office budget allocation for 2019-20 agreed by HM Treasury is set out below.

GEO budget 2019/20	£m
Admin	5.8
Programme	12.2
Total	18.0

Annex B: Performance Indicators

Objective 1: to put equalities at the heart of government

Milestones

• inclusion of high quality equalities objectives in 2019-20 Single Departmental Plans
• launch of the Gender Equality Roadmap and annual Gender Equality Monitor (GEM) in summer 2019
• delivery of the Gender Equality Roadmap and LGBT Action Plan commitments for 2019/20, and progression of commitments for delivery over a longer timeframe
• establishment of a new advisory taskforce to find a sustainable solution to period poverty in the UK
• delivery of the agreed outcomes from the UN Commission on the Status of Women
• coordination and publication of the United Kingdom’s Voluntary National Report on Sustainable Developments Goals 5 and 10
• fulfilling our obligations under the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and responding to their March 2019 Concluding Observations and Recommendations
• delivering an international conference on LGBT issues around the world

Indicators

• 95% on-time compliance of employers in-scope of Gender Pay Gap reporting
• number of disabled candidates supported by the interim EnAble Fund for Elected Office

Contextual indicators

• questions in British Social Attitudes Survey 2019 on attitudes towards disabled people serving as MPs

Objective 2: to empower women to thrive and reach their full potential

Milestones

The Gender Equality Roadmap will be delivered over 4 years. In 2019/20 we will:

• agree sector level action in key sectors and sub-sectors
• launch the refreshed Women’s Business Council
• deliver a survey to gather information on sexual harassment and a consultation to ensure sexual harassment laws provide sufficient protection, over Autumn 2019
• create a barometer to measure the prevalence of harmful gender stereotypes in advertising
• strengthen the evidence-base for ‘what works’ to engage men and boys on gender issues, close the gender pay gap and achieve gender equality in the workplace
• undertake research to better understand the root causes of gendered aspirations and attitudes

Indicators

• 95% on-time compliance of employers in-scope of Gender Pay Gap reporting

Contextual indicators

Gender Equality Monitor measures the following.

Attitudes and leadership

Improved attitudes to gender roles:

• proportion of people agreeing or disagreeing that “a man’s job is to earn money; a women’s job is to look after the home and family”

More gender diversity in senior management and on company boards:

• proportion of managerial positions held by women
• proportion of FTSE 350 company board members, Executive Committee members and Direct Reports who are women

Equal opportunities to start and grow businesses:

• proportion of small and medium businesses (SMEs) that are majority-led by women

Increased gender diversity in prominent public roles:

• proportion of women court judges, police officers and head teachers
• proportion of women MPs
• proportion of women public appointments

Education and skills

Educational choice that is not limited by gender stereotypes:

• gap in proportion of GCSE exam entries by subject
• gap in proportion of A Level exam entries by subject
• gap in proportion of higher education enrolments by subject
• gap in proportion of apprenticeship starts by sector subject area

Economic participation and progression

Reduced gender pay gap:

• gender pay gap in median gross hourly earnings (excluding overtime)

Increased labour market opportunities for women:

• gap in part-time employment rates
• gap in unemployment rates
• gap in economic activity rates

Increased full-time employment of women:

• gaps in full-time and part-time employment rates

Improved gender diversity across occupations and industries:

• proportion of men and women in workforce by occupation
• proportion of men and women in workforce by sector

Balanced sharing of parental roles and caring responsibilities:

• number of individuals claiming Shared Parental Pay
• hours of unpaid domestic and care work for men and women
• gap in employment rates of parents
• percentage of people providing informal care by gender

Reduced gender gap in pension outcomes:

• gap in average weekly income of single male and female pensioners
• participation in workplace pension schemes

Crime and justice

Reduced violence against women and girls:

• percentage of individuals aged 16 to 59 who experienced partner abuse in the last 12 months
• percentage of individuals aged 16 to 59 subjected to sexual assault in the last 12 months

Health and wellbeing

Balanced life spent in good health:

• gap in healthy life expectancy
• personal wellbeing scores by sex

Objective 3: to advance equality for LGBT people

Milestones

We will deliver the LGBT Action Plan, working across government and society to deliver its 75 commitments, including the following.

Data and monitoring

• Develop central government monitoring standards for sexual orientation and gender identity
• Produce guidance explaining how to protect trans people’s data
• Conduct research on the experiences of older LGBT people
• Conduct research on the experiences of BAME people
• Conduct research on the experiences of LGBT people in care
• Conduct research on the experiences of LGBT people with disabilities and long-term conditions

Education

• Reach a further 500 schools through the third phase of the anti-bullying programme
• Update the statutory guidance on Relationships Education in primary schools, and Relationships and Sex Education in secondary schools and ensure that the guidance supports teaching that is age appropriate and relevant to all pupils, whatever their developing sexual orientation or gender identity. (with DfE)
• Publish comprehensive guidance for schools on how to support trans pupils. (with DfE and EHRC)

Health

• Delivery of an LGBT health grant programme
• Develop a plan to reduce LGBT-related suicide (with DHSC)
• Produce guidance for clinicians on the Gender Recognition Act
• Research into the experiences of trans adolescents
• Develop best practice guidance for monitoring
• Research LGBT body dissatisfaction issues

International

• Deliver an international conference on LGBT issues around the world

Representation

• Develop a project to improve the representation of LGBT people in public life
• Develop a project to use behavioural insights to improve people’s attitude toward LGBT people more quickly
• The Government Equalities Office will continue to have a presence at Pride events across the country, allowing us to hear directly from LGBT people.
• Work with the media and schools to challenge gender stereotypes
• Develop evidence on the cause and impacts of gender norms
• Work to increase LGBT inclusion in sport and physical activity

Rights and the law

• Consult on reforms to the Gender Recognition Act
• Investigate a “Tell Us Once” service for trans people
• Undertake a call for evidence on non-binary identities
• Analyse the results of the call for evidence on people with variations in sex characteristics

Safety

• Develop legislative and non-legislative proposals to end the practice of conversion therapy and bring forward a consultation on these proposals.
• Undertake qualitative research into the experiences of LGBT homeless people (with MHCLG)
• Conduct an audit of existing service provision for LGBT homeless people (with MHCLG)
• Produce non-statutory guidance for local authorities on supporting LGBT homeless people
• Refresh the Hate Crime Action Plan (with Home Office)
• Consider evidence from the LGBT survey in the Hate Crime Action Plan (with Home Office)
• Fund a bespoke training package available to all police call handlers to improve police response to LGBT hate crime (with Home Office)
• Review and assess the coverage and awareness of local hate crime services. (with Home Office)
• Publish findings from hate crime inspection (with Home Office)
• Undertake a review of Hate Crime Legislation (with MOJ and Home Office)
• Work with LGBT stakeholders and press to raise awareness of LGBT hate crimes. (with CPS and Home Office)
• Work with partners to improve the recording and monitoring of equalities data for LGBT victims. (with CPS and Home Office)

Sector sustainability

• Appoint an LGBT Advisory Panel
• Distribute £400,000 of grant funding to voluntary groups by March 2020
• Deliver sector development interventions to all grant recipients

Workplace

• Develop a training package to help employers tackle LGBT discrimination at work
• Establish an employer working group

Contextual indicators

• British Social Attitudes Survey results relating to sexual orientation and transgender people
• statistics on hate crimes and homophobic, biphobic and transphobic incidents in England and Wales recorded by the police and from the Crime Survey for England and Wales

Objective 4: to ensure our laws protect equality and provide equal rights to all

Milestones

• protections covered in the Equality Act 2006, the Equality Act 2010 and equivalent legislation in Northern Ireland continue to apply once the UK has left the EU
• delivery of civil partnerships for opposite sex-couples by the end of 2019
• implementation by the EHRC of all Tailored Review recommendations

Indicators

Equality Advisory Support Service:

• percentage of calls answered within 30 seconds: 85%
• customer satisfaction with the service: 80% or higher
• total percentage of complaints upheld: Less than 2%

Contextual indicators

EHRC performance indicators:

Key performance indicator (KPI)	KPI Description	18/19 Outturn
Interventions on equality and human rights issues are effective	Percentage of domain success measures achieved by due dates	74%
Deliver work on time and to good quality	Percentage of domain output measures delivered	90%
Policy recommendations are widely supported	Percentage of Treaty Monitoring recommendations adopted by UN	85%
Work protects and strengthens legal rights to equality and human rights	Percentage of EHRC legislative recommendations and priorities cited or supported by parliamentarians and key stakeholders	63%
Legal interventions clarify and strengthen the law	Number of cases EHRC fund, intervene in or bring in their own name	39
Protecting equality and human rights and increase access to redress	Percentage of section 28 (where EHRC provide legal provide legal assistance to an individual) casework concluding during the financial year which effects a positive clarification or change in the legal framework and/or reverses a discriminatory policy, decision or rights infringement and/or brings a positive benefit to the public.	83%
External communications increase the reach impact of EHRC’s work	National print and broadcast mentions	1,202
External communications increase the reach impact of EHRC’s work	Website page views	6.5m
EHRC are an inclusive employer with a diverse and high performing workforce who have the skills and tools to deliver our objectives	Workforce diversity by sex, disability and ethnicity	63%
EHRC are an inclusive employer with a diverse and high performing workforce who have the skills and tools to deliver our objectives	EHRC workforce vs UK working population: - 60% female employees vs 46.5% - 14% of employees describe themselves as disabled vs 19% - 12% declared they are from ethnic minority groups vs 15%
EHRC are an inclusive employer with a diverse and high performing workforce who have the skills and tools to deliver our objectives	Employee engagement index score	68%
EHRC are an inclusive employer with a diverse and high performing workforce who have the skills and tools to deliver our objectives	Tracking EHRC’s progress: This is a 5% improvement on EHRC’s 2017 score and is 6% higher than the civil service 2018 average.
EHRC are an inclusive employer with a diverse and high performing workforce who have the skills and tools to deliver our objectives	Gender, ethnicity and disability pay gaps	Gender pay gap (2017/18) -1.1% mean -3.0% median Disability pay gap (2017/18) 6.4% mean 8.0% median Ethnicity pay gap (2017/18)
Manage public money effectively	Expenditure outturn against budget	We ended the year with an underspend of 1.76%

Annex C: Departmental acronyms

Department	Acronym
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy	BEIS
Department for Transport	DfT
Department for Health and Social Care	DHSC
HM Revenue & Customs	HMRC
HM Treasury	HMT
Equality and Human Rights Commission	EHRC
Home Office	HO
Cabinet Office	CO
Ministry for Housing, Communities & Local Government	MHCLG
Ministry of Justice	MoJ
Department for Education	DfE
Office for National Statistics	ONS
Department for Work and Pensions	DWP
Department for International Development	DFID
Foreign and Commonwealth Office	FCO