- Date released: 28 March 2025
- Request Number: 202502088
- Release of information under: FOI
Information requested
I wish to make a freedom of information request and would be grateful if you could supply the following information within 20 working days:
1) The number of roles across all components of your operations, directorates and management structures, expressed in numbers of full-time employees (FTE), that are mainly or exclusively focussed on issues of equality, diversity, or inclusivity. This information should encompass all roles based in central offices, as well as those based around the country.
Roles meeting this description could include (amongst other guises) “Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Officer” (EDI) or “Diversity and Inclusion Project Managers”. Please break down, if possible, the number of roles per component part of your operations.
For all roles meeting this description, please also provide, in order of preference, either a) the salary of these roles, b) the pay band of these roles, or c) the combined total salary of these roles. Please provide the information that is most in accordance with your data processing practices.
Please also advise if there are any plans to hire further staff in these areas within the next 18 months, and the roles/pay bands that they are likely to occupy.
2) With the same criteria as above, please provide the number of internal training courses attended by staff which pertain to the issues encompassed by equality, diversity or inclusivity. Please include the name of the courses, the number of attendees, and the duration of the course.
3) Please, if possible, provide details of any internal EDI practices and networks, including the number of individuals who are members of such networks.
4) Please provide details of any external contractors brought in by the department to conduct training, advice, or guidance on issues relating to EDI. Where applicable this should include costs and associated manhours.
5) Please provide details of how equality, diversity and inclusivity is included in your procurement practices, the relative weight afforded to these considerations, and the current value of contracts in which EDI considerations was a part of the procurement process.
6) If applicable, any data on the number of EDI officers at projects in receipt of funding by your organisation, or available information on their EDI practices. Failing this, your guidance to organisations applying for grant funding on expected equality and diversity practices/benchmarks.
Complying with all 6 questions should not exceed the statutory cost limit, but should you deem that it does, please then proceed with the request excluding those components that would result in the threshold being crossed. At the absolute minimum, I would expect that parts 1 – 4 should be answered.
Information released
For ease, we have responded to each of your requests in turn.
1) We confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we do not hold the information specified in your request. We have no FTE roles that are mainly or exclusively focussed on issues of EDI, and have no roles meeting the descriptions you have supplied.
In addition, there are no plans to hire staff in these areas within the next 18 months.
2) We confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we hold the information you have requested.
There is one training course which staff attend pertaining to the issues encompassed by EDI:
Title of course: Equality Law and Training
Duration of the course: 1 hour
Number of attendees during 2024/25: 293
3) We confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we hold the information you have requested. However, we are refusing your request under s.21 of the FOIA as the information is reasonably accessible by other means.
We have published previous FOI request responses on our website relating to internal ONR EDI practices and networks. These can be found under the references FOI202403066 (‘Saluting our Sisters’ Campaign Posters and Diversity and Equality Groups/Forward Action Plans) dated 8 April 2024, and FOI202404004 (Gender Equality Network Intranet Page) dated 25 May 2024.
There are no other practices and networks (other than those referred to above). However, the Diversity and Inclusion Group, which was led by our HR Directorate, was dissolved on 29 May 2024, following collective agreement from the group, that it was no longer required as oversight of Diversity and Inclusion matters was provided through other internal governance arrangements.
4) We confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we hold the information you have requested.
We have appointed one contractor to conduct training, advice, or guidance on issues relating to EDI and the law. This is Lisa Ellis Bespoke Business Solutions.
The maximum potential contract value is £54,000 and the contract term is for 3 years starting 1 February 2024. To date, we have spent £13,900. There are no minimum hours stipulated in the contract.
5) We confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we hold the information you have requested.
EDI consideration is captured within the ONR procurement process under the broad heading of social value. In line with the government’s agenda for promoting social value within all its commercial activities, all ONR procurements must consider how the potential contractor will provide any related and proportionate social value in delivery of their services to the subject matter of the proposed contract. ONR provide a link to potential bidders identifying the key themes of social value, of which EDI is referenced, and await their response as to how they propose to apply this. ONR award a maximum of 10% weighting of the award criteria to this element of the procurement process.
ONR requires all of its staff to undertake a mandatory course for EDI and the law as already set out in our response to part 2 of your request. This is run in-house by the external provider named above in our response to part 4 of your request, Lisa Ellis Bespoke Business Solutions. All evaluators involved in the procurement process for the award of contracts are expected to have undertaken this training to support compliance with the law.
6) We confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we do not hold the information specified in your request. We do not hold any data on the number of EDI officers at projects in receipt of funding by ONR nor do we apply grant funding on expected equality and diversity practices or benchmarks.
Exemptions applied
N/A
PIT (Public Interest Test) if applicable
N/A