Public Sector Equality Duty
Equality and diversity in the Cabinet Office
Cabinet Office sits at the centre of government. We support the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and the Cabinet, helping to ensure development, coordination, and implementation of policy and operations across all government departments.
We are committed to ensuring that equality stays at the heart of our organisation by actively considering equality across all areas.
Definition of the Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office consists of a number of business units and an agency. The details of the constituent parts of the department are set out here.
Public Sector Equality Duty
The Public Sector Equality Duty came in to force in April 2011 (s.149 of the Equality Act 2010) and it brought the three previous duties on disability, gender and race together into a single duty, which were extended to cover the remaining protected characteristics (age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity, and gender reassignment).
Public authorities like Cabinet Office are now required, in carrying out their functions, to have due regard toward the need to achieve the objectives set out under s149 of the Equality Act 2010 to:
- Eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act 2010;
- Advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it;
- Foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.
The Public Sector Equality Duty is supported by the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011, which require public authorities (named on schedule 1 of the regulations) to publish:
- Equality objectives at least every four years (from 6 April 2012).
- Information to demonstrate their compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty (from 31 January 2012).
This is to ensure we are fully transparent and to illustrate how we have fulfilled the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty.
Equality objectives
Since 2010 the Cabinet Office has undergone significant change. Business Units and Corporate Services have been considering the impact of the Equality Act on the delivery of Units’ business objectives. The objectives below will be developed further during 2012 and will be updated to include progress.
1. An objective on digital delivery
This objective demonstrates that the Government’s digital agenda recognises the need to be fully inclusive. The concept of digital inclusion lies at the heart of the strategy and success in reaching the 9.2 million adults that have never used the internet will inevitably be a measure of success.
Government Digital Service aims to make sure 'digital by default' services are accessible to everyone by working with departments to provide assisted digital services for people who are not online and supporting the digital inclusion agenda.
We will begin by:
- Publishing the government digital strategy by Quarter 4 2012/13
- Publishing departmental implementation plans by Quarter 4 2012/13
- Further milestones will be published early in 2013/14.
2. An Honours Nominations objective
The inclusion of an Honours objective is intended to reflect the broad aim for nominations to reflect the overall diversity of British society.
Cabinet Office will "Increase the number of honours nominations for women to 50% by the end of 2014 (41% achieved in New Year 2012)".
At a later date we will publish details of the activities planned to help us achieve a list that reflects the diversity of the population at large.
3. A workforce objective focused on disability
This objective recognises that changes to the Cabinet Office population and estate have identified new challenges associated with accessibility. This objective relates to a piece of planned work to review access to ICT and other adjustments in light of the office moves.
Cabinet Office will enhance the employment experience for disabled staff by 31 March 2014.
We will do this by:
- Reviewing the process for managing adjustments by 30 June 2012.
- Establishing a benchmark by reviewing policies and practice against the Employer’s Forum on Disabilities [EFD] standards by 31 August 2012.
- Consulting staff and stakeholders to agree priorities based on EFD evaluation report by 30 September 2012.
- Making changes based on the review recommendations between 1 October 2012 and 30 September 2013.
Previous objectives published as part of the Single Equality Scheme are also available:
- Single Equality Scheme review 2010-2011 in PDF Format
- Single Equality Scheme review 2009-2010 in PDF Format
- Single Equality Scheme review 2008-2009 in PDF Format
Public Sector Equality Duty
Since 2010 we have been working together with the Government Equalities Office and representatives from Cabinet Office units to prepare staff for changes to the legislation. In particular, we have provided workshops to support Cabinet Office staff to embed the concept of “Due Regard” into our day to day work.
This work will continue and help inform appropriate departmental objectives.
Equality information
Our Equality information relates to members of staff that are employed by the Cabinet Office. Work continues to include all the protected characteristics.
Staff in post as at:
