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ONR oversight, enforcement & guidance: Equality Act 2010 (post-UKSC), safeguarding, ideological neutrality and immigration-linked security risks

  • Date released: 15 September 2025
  • Request number: 202508032
  • Release of information under: Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA)

Information requested

Under FOIA/EIRs, please provide the following information. Where possible, supply datasets in CSV/Excel and documents as searchable PDFs. If material is already published, please provide the exact URLs.

  1. Post-UKSC legal position & internal actions
    1. Any internal or external briefings, legal analyses, or summaries produced/received since 16 April 2025 on the UK Supreme Court judgment confirming that “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 means biological sex, and its implications (if any) for ONR policy, licensing, inspection, enforcement, staff conduct, or guidance to dutyholders.
    2. Equality Impact Assessments (or equivalent) created/updated since 1 Jan 2024 that address equality terminology, sex/gender, or belief protections in connection with ONR policies, inspections, enforcement, licensing decisions, or staff procedures.
  2. Guidance & communications to licensees/dutyholders
    1. Copies of any ONR-issued guidance, safety/security circulars, inspection protocols, thematic letters, or speeches since 1 Jan 2019 to nuclear site licensees, dutyholders, or security contractors covering:
      • accurate/legal Equality Act terminology in workforce and public-facing policies;
      • protections for belief (including gender-critical beliefs) and avoidance of compelled speech;
      • safeguarding of vulnerable persons (staff, contractors, trainees, whistleblowers) in high-security environments;
      • avoiding misleading EDI/DEI claims in corporate or statutory reporting.
    2. List (title/date) of any unpublished guidance/FAQs touching on the above topics.
  3. Inspections, incidents & enforcement (1 Jan 2019 – present)
    1. Counts of inspections, incidents, investigations, or enforcement cases involving one or more of:
      1. Equality Act 2010 terminology/compliance;
      2. compelled belief/ideological neutrality breaches;
      3. safeguarding failures;
      4. immigration-linked or resource-related security/safety risks.
    2. An anonymised table for each case with ID/reference, date opened, nature of issue, and outcome (e.g., no further action, improvement notice, prohibition, prosecution, etc.).
  4. Immigration/resource-linked security & safeguarding
    1. Any memoranda, liaison notes, protocols, or MOUs (1 Jan 2019 – present) between ONR and the Home Office, Border Force, Police, or other agencies concerning immigration-linked security/safety risks at nuclear sites (e.g., illegal working, fraudulent credentials, trafficking indicators, resource diversion), including referral/escalation arrangements.
    2. Any risk assessments, thematic reviews, or board/committee papers (1 Jan 2022 – present) addressing immigration-linked vulnerabilities within nuclear safety/security, and actions arising.
  5. Public funds & procurement
    1. ONR spend since 1 Jan 2019 on EDI/DEI advisory, memberships, benchmarking, or training providers (supplier, description, amount, start/end dates).
    2. Procurement templates or scoring criteria (1 Jan 2019 – present) including mandatory EDI/DEI commitments or ideological conditions.
  6. Internal policies & training (post-UKSC and current)
    1. Current and any post-16 Apr 2025 updates to policies on: Equality, Dignity/Respect, Freedom of Expression/Belief, Whistleblowing, Safeguarding, and Impartiality/Ideological Neutrality.
    2. Staff/manager training materials (slides, handbooks, outlines) on these topics.
  7. Governance & oversight
    1. Board or committee minutes/packs since 1 Jan 2024 discussing: UKSC ruling; equality terminology; safeguarding; immigration-linked security risks; or EDI procurement/spend. Include titles/dates and redaction grounds if applied.
    2. Forward workplans showing planned changes to licensing, inspection, enforcement, or communications on these topics.
  8. Data protection & retention
    1. Any DPIAs, LIAs, retention schedules, or policy notes (since 1 Jan 2023) on processing equality-related or safeguarding/security-related personal data in licensing, inspection, enforcement, or HR contexts.
  9. Disclosure log
    1. Links or copies of prior FOI/EIR responses (2019–present) on Equality Act compliance, safeguarding, ideological neutrality, immigration-linked security, or EDI procurement/spend.

Information released

For ease, we have responded to each part of your request in turn below.

1) Post-UKSC legal position & internal actions

a) Any internal or external briefings, legal analyses, or summaries produced/received since 16 April 2025 on the UK Supreme Court judgment confirming that “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 means biological sex, and its implications (if any) for ONR policy, licensing, inspection, enforcement, staff conduct, or guidance to dutyholders.

We confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we do not hold the information relevant to part 1) a) of your request. We have not produced any internal or external briefings, legal analyses, or produced or received any summaries since 16 April 2025 on the UK Supreme Court judgement you referred to in For Women Scotland Ltd (Appellant) v The Scottish Ministers (Respondent) [2025] UKSC 16.

This is due to guidance from the Cabinet Office and advice from our legal advisors to wait for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)’s updated code of practice for services, public functions and associations. Following the UK Supreme Court ruling on the meaning of sex in the Equality Act in April 2025, the EHRC launched an additional six-week consultation which closed on 30 June on proposed updates to sections impacted by the ruling. We understand that the updated code of practice was shared with the Minister for Women and Equalities for approval on or about 5 September 2025, according to the EHRC website.

b) Equality Impact Assessments (or equivalent) created/updated since 1 Jan 2024 that address equality terminology, sex/gender, or belief protections in connection with ONR policies, inspections, enforcement, licensing decisions, or staff procedures.

We confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we do not hold the information relevant to part 1) b) of your request. However, for the purposes of openness and transparency, we have provided our Equality Impact Assessment Guidance, which sets out our process and considerations for project leads when undertaking an Equality Impact Assessment.

2) Guidance & communications to licensees/dutyholders

a) Copies of any ONR-issued guidance, safety/security circulars, inspection protocols, thematic letters, or speeches since 1 Jan 2019 to nuclear site licensees, dutyholders, or security contractors covering:

  1. accurate/legal Equality Act terminology in workforce and public-facing policies;
  2. protections for belief (including gender-critical beliefs) and avoidance of compelled speech;
  3. safeguarding of vulnerable persons (staff, contractors, trainees, whistleblowers) in high-security environments;
  4. avoiding misleading EDI/DEI claims in corporate or statutory reporting.

b) List (title/date) of any unpublished guidance/FAQs touching on the above topics.

We confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we do not hold the information relevant to parts 2) a) and b) of your request. We do not produce any guidance in relation to the Equality Act as we are not the enforcing authority for the Equality Act; we are the independent nuclear regulator for safety, security and safeguards. Safeguards in the nuclear context relate to measures to verify that countries comply with international obligations not to use nuclear materials from civil nuclear programmes for non-peaceful purposes. More information can be found about our nuclear safeguards work on our website.

3) Inspections, incidents & enforcement (1 Jan 2019 – present)

a) Counts of inspections, incidents, investigations, or enforcement cases involving one or more of:

  1. Equality Act 2010 terminology/compliance;
  2. compelled belief/ideological neutrality breaches;
  3. safeguarding failures;
  4. immigration-linked or resource-related security/safety risks.

b) An anonymised table for each case with ID/reference, date opened, nature of issue, and outcome (e.g., no further action, improvement notice, prohibition, prosecution, etc.).

We confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we do not hold the information relevant to parts 3) a) and b) of your request. For the four areas you have listed in part 3) a), ONR has no legal vires in relation to the stated legislation or any legislation that is connected to the four topic areas, and so we do not have any planned inspections, reported incidents, or enforcement activity that is in any way related to these topic areas. Therefore we do not hold the information you have described in either part 3) a) or b) of your request.

4) Immigration/resource-linked security & safeguarding

a) Any memoranda, liaison notes, protocols, or MOUs (1 Jan 2019 – present) between ONR and the Home Office, Border Force, Police, or other agencies concerning immigration-linked security/safety risks at nuclear sites (e.g., illegal working, fraudulent credentials, trafficking indicators, resource diversion), including referral/escalation arrangements.

s.1 of the FOIA, we do not hold the information relevant to your request. ONR has no legal vires in relation to the relevant Acts that stipulate the right to work in Great Britain, and our regulatory focus is only on that legislation that sets the expectations for dutyholder performance in terms of nuclear safety, security, site safety, transport and safeguards. Therefore, we do not hold the information you have described in part 4) a) of your request.

b) Any risk assessments, thematic reviews, or board/committee papers (1 Jan 2022 – present) addressing immigration-linked vulnerabilities within nuclear safety/security, and actions arising.

We confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we do not hold the information relevant to part 4) b) of your request. We have conducted a search of the relevant papers within the time period specified in your request using the key word ‘immigration’. This yielded one result but this was not in relation to nuclear safety or security as specified in the request, and was in reference to skills.

5) Public funds & procurement

a) ONR spend since 1 Jan 2019 on EDI/DEI advisory, memberships, benchmarking, or training providers (supplier, description, amount, start/end dates).

We confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we hold the information relevant to part 5) a) of your request. Please find this information in the document attached titled ‘‘FOI202508032 - Part 5a – ONR spend on EDI’.

b) Procurement templates or scoring criteria (1 Jan 2019 – present) including mandatory EDI/DEI commitments or ideological conditions.

We confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we hold the information relevant to part 5) b) of your request.

Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) consideration is incorporated into our Social Value evaluation within the tender process for all work commissioned by ONR. We provide all potential bidders with a link to the Government policy on social value, of which equality, diversity and inclusion is one of the key themes. We ask bidders to determine what they believe is relevant and proportionate to the services to be provided when making their submission. We reserve 10% of the overall marks to the Social Value evaluation criteria and award of contract.

The wording used within our Statement of Service Requirements template is as follows :

“ACHIEVING SOCIAL VALUE

8.1 In line with the Government’s agenda for promoting social value within all its commercial activities, all ONR procurement must consider how the Contractor will provide any related and proportionate social value in delivery of their services to the subject matter of the proposed contract. Potential bidders will be required to provide a statement as to how they believe this can be applied for the service requirements for this specific contract.

Further detail can be found by accessing the information within the following links :

We have also attached a standard template (Schedule C) we use to describe our Tender Evaluation Process, which references Social Value and the scoring mechanism how the scores are to be applied.

6) Internal policies & training (post-UKSC and current)

a) Current and any post-16 Apr 2025 updates to policies on: Equality, Dignity/Respect, Freedom of Expression/Belief, Whistleblowing, Safeguarding, and Impartiality/Ideological Neutrality.

b) Staff/manager training materials (slides, handbooks, outlines) on these topics.

We confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we do not hold the information relevant to parts 6) a) and b) of your request. As explained in our response to Part 1 of your request, we are awaiting for the publication of the EHRC’s updated code of practice for services, public functions and associations. We have therefore not yet updated any relevant policies or guidance, or completed an Equality Impact Assessment on this topic.

7) Governance & oversight

a) Board or committee minutes/packs since 1 Jan 2024 discussing: UKSC ruling; equality terminology; safeguarding; immigration-linked security risks; or EDI procurement/spend. Include titles/dates and redaction grounds if applied.

We confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we hold the information relevant to part 7) a) of your request. We conducted a search of our Board, Remuneration and Resilience Committee (RRC), Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC), and Security Committee papers and minutes for the specified period.

We have provided relevant extracts of the papers and minutes in the document titled ‘FOI202508032 - Part 7a - ONR Board and Committee papers and minutes – relevant extracts’. We have also provided links to publicly available documents where referenced and relevant, such as our Corporate Plan.

b) Forward workplans showing planned changes to licensing, inspection, enforcement, or communications on these topics.

We confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we do not hold the information relevant to part 7) b) of your request. We do not have any planned changes to licensing, inspection, enforcement or communications on the topics outlined in part 7) a).

8) Data protection & retention

a) Any DPIAs, LIAs, retention schedules, or policy notes (since 1 Jan 2023) on processing equality-related or safeguarding/security-related personal data in licensing, inspection, enforcement, or HR contexts.

We confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we do not hold the information relevant to part 8) of your request.

Our retention schedules are listed within ONR’s Business Classification Scheme and Disposal Schedule which is available on our website.

Since 1 January 2023, no Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) or Legimiate Interest Assessments (LIAs) have been completed that include the processing of equality-related or safeguarding/security-related personal data in licensing, inspection, enforcement or HR contexts.

We have been made aware recently of a tender exercise for ONR HR’s recruitment platform in preparation for the current providers (HireServe) contract drawing to a close. This is still in the very early stages, however it is expected the DPIA will include the processing of equality-related data in the HR context.

9) Disclosure log

a) Links or copies of prior FOI/EIR responses (2019–present) on Equality Act compliance, safeguarding, ideological neutrality, immigration-linked security, or EDI procurement/spend.

We confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we hold some of the information relevant to part 9) of your request. Please note that we publish our FOI responses on our website. Search results can be limited key words entered into the search bar and selecting ‘FOI release’ using the filter menu options under ‘Corporate Publications’.

Previous relevant FOI releases include:

We confirm we do not hold any previous FOI/EIR responses in the period specified relating to Equality Act compliance, immigration-linked security, or safeguarding in a non-nuclear context as we explained in our response to part 2) of your request.

Section 40 FOIA – Personal information

We have removed some information from the attached documents as it is personal data. This consists of names and job titles. Release of each of this type of information could identify the individual either directly or indirectly. The personal data has been withheld using the exemption s.40(2) of the FOIA.

Release of the information would breach principle (a) of GDPR (lawfulness, fairness and transparency) on the grounds that there is no lawful basis to process this data. In addition, releasing this  personal data would also breach principle (b) of GDPR (purpose limitation) as the data was provided for the purposes of limited internal report authorship and circulation. 

Exemptions applied:

s.40

Public Interest Test (PIT):

N/A

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