The Cabinet Office-based Equality Hub has been replaced by the Office for Equality and Opportunity.
The office will support a new extended women and equalities ministerial team.
Like the Equality Hub, the OEO – which will remain within the Cabinet Office – will cover the overall framework of equality legislation in the UK, including disability policy, ethnic disparities, gender equality and LGBT+ rights.
It will ensure “people of all backgrounds will benefit from the government’s commitments to breaking down barriers, boosting opportunity and ensuring that equality is at the heart of every mission”, the Office for Equality and Opportunity said.
The office’s key initial priorities will include:
- Delivering the equalities legislation set out in the King’s Speech – the draft equality (race and disability) bill, equality measures in the employment rights bill, and the draft conversion practices bill
- Ensuring equality and opportunity are embedded throughout the government’s missions and work, including a new focus on socio-economic background
- Improving the quality of evidence and data about inequality and the types of barriers different people face – this includes protected characteristics but also other aspects of inequality such as socio-economic and geographic inequality
The government on Wednesday announced new appointments to join Bridget Phillipson and Anneliese Dodds. Phillipson was appointed education secretary and the senior minister for women and equalities in July, alongside Dodds, who is the minister of state for women and equalities in the Department for Education alongside her role as development minister in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
They will be supported by:
- Stephen Timms, who is minister for social security and disability in the Department for Work and Pensions and was appointed to that role in July
- Seema Malhotra, who has been appointed minister for equalities in the Department for Education (appointed 8 October)
- Dame Nia Griffith, who has also been named minister for equalities in the DfE (appointed 8 October) in addition to her current role as a minister in the Wales Office
- Lord Ray Collins, who has been appointed as a government spokesperson (appointed 8 October) in addition to his current roles as minister for Africa in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, deputy leader of the House of Lords, and a government whip in the Lords
- Baroness Jacqui Smith, who has been appointed as a government spokesperson (appointed 8 October) in addition to her current role as minister for skills in the DfE
Phillipson said: “We know too many people across our country face unjust barriers, and that’s why we will ensure equality and opportunity are at the very heart of our all missions.
“I am proud to stand alongside our strong women and equalities ministerial team, working tirelessly to address the root causes of inequalities and socio-economic disadvantage.
“Together, we will drive real, lasting change because background should never be a barrier to success.”