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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what consideration his Department gives to the diversity policies and records of businesses or other organisations when considering their bid for commercial contracts or grants.

Simon Hughes

The Ministry of Justice is committed to promoting equality and diversity in its procurements. Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 outlines the Public Sector Equality Duty. The following three duties which form the basis of Departments’ policy and to which due regard must be given during the procurement process:

1. Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Act;

2. Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.

3. Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.

The level of due regard given to the three duties will vary depending on their relevance to each individual procurement. There will be greater significance for example where the procurement involves direct contact with the public or employees of the Department or where services are to be carried out in the Department’s premises.

Where a need to consider equality has been identified at the beginning of a procurement process, consideration to this is given at every stage of the process as detailed below:

· Planning and preparation includes the consideration of whether the duties are relevant to the procurement.

· The Pre-Qualification stage of the tender process contains mandatory fields including questions to make sure that the bid is in line with legislation. Suppliers that do not pass these questions are not progressed onto the next stage.

· The Request for Information and Request for Quotation contain questions in line with legislation. These question are proportionate so as not to disadvantage smaller suppliers.

· The evaluation of tenders can include equality criteria if it formed part of the specification. However, if included, the criteria are given proportionate consideration to the bid as a whole.

· Contract award where the specification set out equality criteria can be used to determine the most economically advantageous tender

· Ongoing consideration is given to the equality duties in every review meeting for those relevant contracts.

In addition to these processes implemented during the procurement process, the Department reports annually its obligations to the Cabinet Office. All procurement staff within the Department are required to undertake mandatory Equality and Diversity Training which makes sure that the duty can be considered and applied correctly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what consideration her Department gives to the diversity policies and records of businesses or other organisations when considering their bid for commercial contracts or grants.

Mr Alan Duncan

DFID considers a number of factors including relevant diversity clauses when considering contracts and grants.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what targets her Department has for increasing diversity; and what progress has been made on meeting those targets in the last year.

Mr Alan Duncan

DFID has aligned with the Civil Service-wide diversity targets for levels of representation in the Senior Civil Service (SCS). These targets are:

· 39% of the SCS to be women – DFID has achieved this target as 39% of our SCS are women.

· 34% of top management posts (Director and above) to be held by women DFID has exceeded this target as 42% of such posts are held by women.

· 5% of the Senior Civil Service to be minority ethnic staff – DFID has exceeded this target as 7% of our SCS are minority ethnic.

· 5% of the Senior Civil Service to be disabled people – DFID has exceeded this target as 6% of our SCS identify as having a disability.

In addition to this DFID has made a commitment to improve staff engagement survey scores for people with disabilities as this is recognised as an issue across government. DFID has improved the overall staff engagement survey score for staff with disabilities from 65% in November 2012 to 71% in November 2013.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of staff within her Department who have been subject to formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.

Mr Alan Duncan

Declaration of ethnicity for staff at DFID is voluntary and it is therefore not possible to confirm the ethnicity of any staff who have been subject to disciplinary proceedings.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of staff within her Department who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years were white British.

Mr Alan Duncan

Declaration of ethnicity for staff at DFID is voluntary and it is therefore not possible to confirm the ethnicity of any staff who have been subject to disciplinary proceedings.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, what proportion of staff within the House of Commons Commission who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.

John Thurso

The breakdown of staff who classed themselves as white British and who were dismissed following formal disciplinary procedures addressing poor performance, unsatisfactory attendance or misconduct is as follows:

2009/10 – 0%
2010/11 – 100%
2011/12 – 80%
2012/13 – 0%
2013/14 – 25%

Over the five years as a whole there were 15 such dismissals of which eight described themselves as White and British. In a further four cases the ethnic background was unknown or not stated and the nationality was unknown or not stated in three cases.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of staff within her Department who have been dismissed following formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.

Karen Bradley

Table 1 provides information on the proportion of staff within the Home
Department who have been subject to formal disciplinary proceedings in each of
the last 4 financial years (2009-10 to 2012-13) and who were white. It is
planned that information for 2013-14 will be published in January 2015.

It has not been possible to provide information further broken down as white
British staff as historical data is not collated in this way and could only be
provided at disproportionate cost.

Individuals can be dismissed for a variety of reasons (such as conduct,
performance, or attendance). It is not possible to identify those dismissed
following disciplinary proceedings without incurring disproportionate costs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of staff within her Department who have been subject to formal disciplinary proceedings in each of the last five financial years classed themselves as white British.

Karen Bradley

Table 1 provides information on the proportion of staff within the Home
Department who have been subject to formal disciplinary proceedings in each of
the last 4 financial years (2009-10 to 2012-13) and who were white. It is
planned that information for 2013-14 will be published in January 2015.

It has not been possible to provide information further broken down as white
British staff as historical data is not collated in this way and could only be
provided at disproportionate cost.

Individuals can be dismissed for a variety of reasons (such as conduct,
performance, or attendance). It is not possible to identify those dismissed
following disciplinary proceedings without incurring disproportionate costs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what targets her Department has for increasing diversity; and what progress has been made on meeting those targets in the last year.

Karen Bradley

Tables provided in Annex 1 for representation from March 2013 – March 2014

In conjunction with Cabinet Office, the Department has agreed specific targets
to improve representation rates. The position in the last year is as follows:

• Three female employees have been appointed at Director General level becoming
members of the Home Office Executive Management Board. The position generally
was that 34.39% of staff at Senior Civil Service (SCS) were female compared
with the target of 38%. At Grades 6 and 7 the position was that 43.93% of staff
were female compared with the target of 45%.

• 6.21% of staff with a disability were at SCS level compared to a target
of 3% and at Grades 6 and 7 the position was that 5.99 % staff had a
disability compared with the target of 6%.

• 10.56% of staff at Grades 6 and 7 were from a minority ethnic background
compared to a target of 10%. 4.52% of staff at SCS level were from a minority
ethnic background compared with the target of 6%.

• 5.66% of staff at SCS were lesbian, gay or bisexual compared to the target of
5.0%. At Grades 6 and 7 the position was that 3.4% of staff were lesbian, gay
or bisexual compared with the target of 5.0%.

The position is encouraging but the Department is committed to finding further
progress in all aspects of diversity.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sharon Hodgson on 2014-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what consideration her Department gives to the diversity policies and records of businesses or other organisations when considering their bid for commercial contracts or grants.

Karen Bradley

As part of procurement tender exercises for commercial contracts, the Home Department asks for evidence of bidders Equality and/or Equality and Diversity Statement or Policy. Statements or policies are evaluated to ensure that organisations have satisfactory procedures in place that comply and provide evidence of their commitment.

When considering a bid for a Grant, it is not currently part of the Home Department’s process to consider the diversity policies and records of businesses.