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Department overview
Formed	October 2007
Jurisdiction	England
Headquarters	London, England
Annual budget	£16.7 million in 2019-20
Ministers responsible	Bridget Phillipson, Minister for Women and Equalities Anneliese Dodds, Minister of State for Women and Equalities
Parent department	Department for Education
Website	gov.uk/government/organisations/government-equalities-office

The Office for Equality and Opportunity (OEU, formerly known as the Government Equalities Office) is the unit of the British government with responsibility for social equality. Based in the Cabinet Office, it is led by the Minister for Women and Equalities.

The OEU also contains a smaller equalities team within it known as the Women and Equalities Unit which has lead responsibility for gender equality within the UK government, together with a responsibility to provide advice on all other forms of equality (including age, race, sexual orientation and disability) to other UK government departments.

History

Prior to April 2019, the GEO was led concurrently by Cabinet Secretaries at the Home Office, DFID and DfE. The day-to-day responsibility for policy on these issues was not transferred to GEO when it was created. The Equalities Office currently leads the Discrimination Law Review, which developed the Equality Act 2010 that replaced previous anti-discrimination legislation.

In November 2018, the GEO announced that the unit would move to be part of the Cabinet Office in April 2019.

As of July 2024, the ministers responsible are Anneliese Dodds (Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)) and Bridget Phillipson (Minister for Women and Equalities). Phillipson as Secretary of State for Education fulfils constitutional requirements to have a minister at full cabinet level.

In October 2024, the unit was renamed the Office for Equality and Opportunity.

Ministers

The Government Equalities Office Ministers are as follows:

Budget

The budget for the Equalities Office reached £76 million in 2010-11. Following the spending review this is set to decrease each year, to £47.1 million in 2014-15. The budget has continued to decrease year-on-year, with £16.7 million being allocated in 2019-20.

Governance

The GEO has had different forms over the years since its creation. It was created in October 2007 when the Women and Equality Unit, based within the Department for Communities and Local Government was converted into an independent department. Since that time it has had various ministerial sponsors and has been housed within several ministerial departments:

Controversies

In June 2011, it emerged that female staff at the Equalities Office received 7.7% more pay than males on average. The information came to light following a Freedom of Information request by MP Dominic Raab. The enquiry also revealed that almost two thirds of the department's 107 staff were female. Raab criticised the department for double standards, stating "It undermines the credibility of the equality and diversity agenda, if bureaucrats at the government equalities office are preaching about unequal representation and the pay gap, whilst practising reverse". The differences between the genders became marked from 2008 under the leadership of Harriet Harman with the pay gap almost doubling from that time and six out of seven new jobs going to women.

In an interview about her role, director Hilary Spencer said:

I offer one-off career chats to people, including many women, who are trying to work out whether they can make the leap to the senior civil service and whether that’s compatible with family life. Interestingly, I have very few conversations with men who wonder whether getting to Deputy Director is compatible with family life. There is still a point when women have children where they tend to take the brunt of the childcare and responsibilities.

See also

• Minister for Women and Equalities
• Women and Equalities Committee

References

1. Cabinet Office (21 July 2020). "Cabinet Office annual report and accounts 2019 to 2020". GOV.UK. Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
2. "Government Equalities Office to join Cabinet Office". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
3. "Office for Equality and Opportunity to break down barriers to opportunity". gov.uk. 9 October 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
4. Government Equalities Office Spending Review settlement
5. Rt Hon Caroline Nokes MP (29 October 2021). "Government Equalities Office finances". Women and Equalities Committee. House of Commons. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
6. Hope, Christopher (14 June 2011). "Women paid more than men at Government equality body". The Daily Telegraph. London.
7. "Meet the woman in charge of gender and equality policy for the UK | Apolitical". Apolitical. Retrieved 2018-04-23.

External links

• Official website

v t e Cabinet Office
Ministers	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Minister for the Cabinet Office Minister without Portfolio Leader of the House of Lords Leader of the House of Commons Paymaster General Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Cabinet Office
Civil Service	Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary
Ministerial departments	Office of the Leader of the House of Commons Office of the Leader of the House of Lords
Non-ministerial department	UK Statistics Authority
Executive agencies	Crown Commercial Service Government Property Agency
Non-departmental public bodies	Civil Service Commission Equality and Human Rights Commission Advisory Committee on Business Appointments Boundary Commission for England Boundary Commission for Wales Committee on Standards in Public Life House of Lords Appointments Commission Security Vetting Appeals Panel Senior Salaries Review Body
Other organisations	Commissioner for Public Appointments Government Car Service (Prime Ministerial Car) Government Equalities Office Government Estates Management Infrastructure and Projects Authority Office of the Parliamentary Counsel Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists Privy Council Office
Secretariats	Civil Contingencies Secretariat Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms Defence and Overseas Secretariat Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat
Category

51°29′53″N 0°08′33″W / 51.4981°N 0.1424°W / 51.4981; -0.1424

• Government Equalities Office
• 2007 establishments in the United Kingdom