Reference: FOI-2024-1897
You asked
Please provide for 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23:
- Total FTE Headcount on 31/03 for each financial year
- Amount spent on EDI training per financial year
- Number of formal grievances raised in this period where the discrimination relates to a protected characteristic under the Equalities Act 2010
- Number of formal grievances raised in this period where the main cause cited is bullying or harassment but excludes all cases related to the previous category of protected characteristics under the Equalities Act 2010
- Number of employment law cases that commenced in this period where the discrimination relates to a protected characteristic under the Equalities Act 2010
- Number of employment law cases that commenced in this period where the main cause cited is bullying or harassment but excludes all cases related to the previous category of protected characteristics under the Equalities Act 2010
- Total amount spent on either awarded payments or settlement agreements in this period where the discrimination relates to a protected characteristic under the Equalities Act 2010
- Total amount spent on either awarded payments or settlement agreements in this period where the main cause cited is bullying or harassment but excludes all cases related to the previous category of protected characteristics under the Equalities Act 2010
We said
Thank you for your request.
The total headcount of the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) on 31/03 can be found in our annual reports. These can be accessed via the following links:
To understand and collate the amount spent on Equality and Diversity training across the organisation, we would need to interrogate the learning record of every member of staff to locate instances of attendance to conferences or training courses regarding Diversity and Inclusion. We would also be required to check with the local business management teams of every business area in ONS, as learning can be locally procured and therefore may not be recorded in the centralised learning management system. The search for this information would involve a wide range of search terms to ensure that all relevant training within this category is located. For example, if we were to only use the terms 'diversity' and 'inclusion', this may not encompass specialist sessions focussed on one protected characteristic, so may not fully cover the requested material.
In addition to this, to collate the information requested about grievances and HR cases involving Discrimination, Bullying and Harassment, we would need to individually interrogate hundreds of cases, as this information is not easily queried on our case management system. Furthermore, the case summary information in many instances is not sufficient to determine whether the case relates to Discrimination, Bullying and/or Harassment. This task would therefore involve the consultation of case notes and outcome letters, adding to the resource burden involved in collating this information.
The time required to locate, extract, and collate the remainder of the requested information would therefore exceed the cost limit for Freedom of Information requests, which is £600. This equates to 24 working hours for 1 member of staff (3 days work). Therefore, Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) applies.
We would recommend narrowing the scope of your request so we may answer within the cost limit.
For example, we would be able to provide costs associated with diversity and inclusion training tracked centrally by our finance team.
We also would be able to provide the number of cases that fall into a broader category of the 'Speaking Up Framework'. This would include cases relating to Discrimination, Bullying, and Harassment, but would also include cases recorded for other reasons (of which there are over 30 reasons a Speak Up case can be logged).
These narrower parameters for Qs 2, 3 and 4 will enable us to fulfil the request, including the information in Qs 5, 6, 7, and 8.
Please get back in touch if you would like to submit a refined request.