Transparency data

Home Office Public Sector Equality Duty Training numbers for the financial year 2023/2024

Updated 26 September 2024

This publication forms part of the Home Office response to Recommendation 12 of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review, which states:

The department should embark on a structured programme of learning and development for all immigration and policy officials and senior civil servants in relation to the Equality Act 2010 and the department’s public sector equality duty and obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998. Every year, the department should publish details of training courses attended, and how many people have completed them.

1. Introduction

In line with Recommendation 12 of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review, the Home Office has created and delivers a training programme focussed on the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). The PSED training has been delivered in house by policy staff and Home Office Legal Advisors. It consists of training explaining the history of the Equality Act 2010 and the department’s Public Sector Equality Duty including the nine protected characteristics and three aims of the PSED. Training is tailored to business area and profession. Delivery of staff led training has been prioritised to policy officials and to senior leaders (Senior Civil Servants (SCS) and Grade 6 (G6) staff), who then cascade the training within their teams.

In order to reach the departments’ large operational workforce and meet the commitment to train immigration officials, a separate PSED training package, designed as E-Learning, has been rolled out. This E-Learning package is designed primarily for G7 and below.

This document sets out how many people have attended the training courses delivered by the PSED team, through the staff-led senior leaders cascaded sessions, or via E-Learning during the financial year 2023/24. Courses delivered by the PSED team prioritised delivery to SCS and G6, due to the legal agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) under Section 23 of the Equality Act 2006.

For the financial year 2023/24, a total of 17,284 staff members have received training, the vast majority (93%) of this via the E-Learning course.

2. Grade breakdown

Staff-led training

Of the SCS and G6 in post April 2024, 251 SCS (73%) and 752 G6 (61%) are PSED trained, i.e., have attended a training event delivered by our dedicated PSED team since the start of PSED training in 2019.

This is calculated from a list of all SCS and G6 within the department (April 2024) compared with registers taken from training attendance. SCS and G6 who have attended the training but have since left the department (32% of those trained since 2019) are not included in this total.

From April 6th 2023 to April 5th 2024, 1,126 staff have received the staff-led training. This includes 106 SCS, 416 G6 and 427 at other grades (G7, SEO, HEO, EO, AO and AA), 6 paid non-civil servants and 171 unknown grades. Since the start of the training in 2019 a total of 4,471 staff have attended a staff-led training session (not including E-Learning).

Grades are self-reported when attendees sign PSED training attendance registers, and the unknown grades are a result of grades being omitted when completing a register.

E-Learning

E-Learning numbers are currently not recorded in a format that would allow a grade breakdown; however, the E-Learning package was designed primarily for G7 and below, while staff of G6 and above are encouraged to attend a staff-led training session delivered by PSED trainers.

3. Area breakdown

E-Learning has been rolled out primarily to operational Migration and Borders staff, while staff-led training was focused on increasing the percentage of trained G6 and SCS staff.

Table 1: Number of staff trained within each business area

1. Business Area	2. Total SCS + G6 who attended staff-led training in 2023-24 [footnote 1]	3. Total SCS + G6 in 2023-24 [footnote 2]	4. Total staff (all grades) who attended staff-led training in 2023-24 [footnote 1]	5. Total staff (all grades) that completed the E-Learning module in 2023-24	6. Total staff (all grades) in 2023 [footnote 2]
Migration & Borders	216	579	483	15,703	35,031
Corporate & Support	190	525	375	66	4795
Homeland Security	24	131	169	0	1221
Public Safety	90	226	94	356	1885

The numbers in this publication do not include PSED training at staff inductions or profession-specific events, as these are separate training packages which run multiple times a year.

4. Future

PSED training will continue to be delivered in the above-described formats, with an emphasis to further increase the percentage of trained staff at SCS and G6 level currently in post. Training numbers will be published annually.

Notes:

For the purposes of this analysis, staff have been grouped according to the area of the Home Office they work in:

Migration and borders - staff in this area includes those working in UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), Border Force, Immigration Enforcement, Migration and Borders policy, and His Majesty’s Passport Office

Homeland security - staff in this area work to counter threats from terrorism

Public safety - this includes staff who support work on policing and fire and rescue services

Corporate and support - this includes staff that support other functions through a variety of means, including analysis, private offices, HR, and IT

Percentages within this publication have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

1. This includes all staff trained since May 2023 and does not consider staff attrition. Grades reflect the grade of the individual at the time they received the training. ↩ ↩²

2. Data from Home Office workforce diversity statistics 2022 to 2023 – Data tables: Table_2 for information on the total number of staff within each business area as of 31st March 2023. ↩ ↩²