Transparency data

UK Export Finance Public Sector Equality Duty Compliance: 2018-19

Published 5 February 2020

1. Equality regulations

The equality regulations require all public bodies to:

  • eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation
  • advance equality of opportunity
  • foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who don’t

Promoting equality of opportunity means public bodies should:

  • remove or minimise disadvantages for groups of people
  • take steps to meet the needs of protected groups of people
  • encourage all groups of people to participate in public life or other activity situations where participation is low

2. Equality, diversity and inclusion objectives

To achieve our mission, UK Export Finance (UKEF) must attract and develop a diverse and inclusive workforce: a workforce with the right knowledge, skills attitude and behaviours to meet existing and emerging needs as identified in the departmental Business Plan to 2020.

2.1 Gender Equality Objective

As of 31 March 2019, the department had 323 employees, of which 38.70% were female and 61.30% were male. UKEF recognises it needs to increase female representation at grades HEO and above, and in December 2017, UKEF signed the HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter. Our targets are to:

  • increase representation of women in senior management (SCS1 and above) to 30% by April 2020 (as of 31 March 2019 this figure stood at 29.41%)
  • ensure female candidates are shortlisted in all SCS recruitment campaigns
  • reduce the gender pay gap by 50% by April 2020

2.2 Disability Objective

UKEF has dedicated itself to becoming a better place to work for individuals with disabilities. The department aims to contribute to the goals of the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. A key part of this is to increase representation of currently under-represented groups. In November 2017, UKEF achieved Level 3 Leader status on the Disability Confident scheme. UKEF is committed to the Disability Confident campaign and will continue to review its standards in order to reach its aspiration of being a role model department and a fully inclusive employer.

2.3 Inclusivity Objective

UKEF aims to support the Civil Service in becoming the most inclusive employer in the UK by 2020, as set out in the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. UKEF will cooperate across the Civil Service in making our own workplace more inclusive for our staff. Our objective is to improve our position, and benchmark our department against both public sector and private sector organisations upon the establishment of a new framework for the measurement of inclusion led by the Cabinet Office in partnership with the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development.

UKEF aims to do our duty as a public sector employer and beyond and support the Civil Service vision of becoming the most inclusive employer by 2020.

3. Gender pay gap reporting

From 31 March 2017, public sector organisations with more than 250 employees are required to publish gender pay data on an annual basis. UKEF published the report in January 2020 relating to the timeframe 2018 to 2019.

We are working towards our target to reduce the gender pay gap by 50% by April 2020.

4. UK Export Finance Workforce Diversity Data 2018-19

The data used to produce this report are displayed in percentages by grade group as at 31 March 2019.

  1. Gender by grade
  2. Age by grade
  3. Ethnicity by grade
  4. Disability by grade
  5. Sexual orientation by grade
  6. Religious beliefs by grade
  7. Marital status by grade

As displayed on the following tables, not declared refers to staff that answered, ‘prefer not to answer’ when asked. Not reported refers to staff that were asked, but no response was left.

The table below explains the grade grouping used throughout this report.

Grade Grade group
SCS3 Senior Civil Service
SCS2  
SCS1  
Grade 6 Grades 6 and 7
Grade 7  
SEO Senior and Higher Executive Officers
HEO  
EO Executive Officers
AO Adminstrative Officers and Assistants
AA  

5. Gender by grade

Grade Male Female
Senior Civil Service 70.59% 29.41%
Grades 6 and 7 65.31% 34.69%
SEO and HEO 62.34% 37.66%
EO 50.00% 50.00%
AO 25.00% 75.00%

As of 31 March 2019, the department had 323 employees, of which 38.70% were female and 61.30% were male. UKEF recognises it needs to increase female representation at grades HEO and above, and in December 2017, UKEF signed the HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter, pledging to increase representation of women in senior management (SCS1 and above) to 30% by April 2020.

UKEF has a target to have at least a 40% female to male ratio of its workforce by 2020. The proportion of female employees at UKEF has increased steadily over the last three years and the department remains on track to hit its target.

6. Age by grade

Grade 16-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-64 >65
Senior Civil Service 0.00% 0.00% 11.76% 52.94% 29.42% 5.88% 0.00%
Grades 6 and 7 0.00% 3.06% 29.59% 33.67% 26.54% 6.12% 1.02%
SEO and HEO 0.00% 17.53% 25.98% 20.78% 26.62% 8.44% 0.65%
EO 0.00% 38.64% 13.64% 29.54% 15.91% 2.27% 0.00%
AO 0.00% 37.50% 12.50% 25.00% 12.50% 0.00% 12.50%

7. Ethnicity by grade

For the purposes of this report, staff that have declared their ethnic origin other than white are described as BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic), unless otherwise stated.

Grade White BAME Not declared Not reported
Senior Civil Service 76.47% 17.65% 11.76% 0.00%
Grades 6 and 7 80.61% 18.37% 1.02% 0.00%
SEO and HEO 68.18% 30.52% 1.30% 0.00%
EO 40.91% 56.82% 2.27% 0.00%
AO 50.00% 50.00% 0.00% 0.00%

8. Disability by grade

Grade Disabled Non-disabled Not declared Not reported
Senior Civil Service 0.00% 70.58% 0.00% 29.42%
Grades 6 and 7 1.02% 51.02% 0.00% 47.96%
SEO and HEO 5.19% 50.00% 0.65% 44.16%
EO 2.27% 72.73% 2.27% 22.73%
AO 25.00% 50.00% 0.00% 25.00%

In November 2017, UKEF was awarded Disability Confident Level 3 (Leader) status which is valid until November 2020. This accolade shows our ongoing commitment to recruit and support individuals with disabilities.

9. Sexual orientation by grade

Grade Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Heterosexual Other Not declared Not reported
Senior Civil Service 0.00% 70.59% 0.00% 17.65% 11.76%
Grades 6 and 7 3.06% 76.53% 0.00% 6.12% 14.29%
SEO and HEO 4.54% 76.62% 1.30% 3.90% 13.64%
EO 2.27% 79.55% 0.00% 6.82% 11.36%
AO 0.00% 87.50% 0.00% 12.50% 0.00%

UKEF has its own LGBT+ staff network and staff are also welcome to attend the wider DIT LGBT+ network and the civil service LGBT+ network.

10. Religion or belief by grade

Grade No religion Religion or belief declared Not declared Not reported
Senior Civil Service 29.41% 47.06% 23.53% 0.00%
Grades 6 and 7 30.61% 55.10% 13.27% 1.02%
SEO and HEO 37.01% 55.20% 7.14% 0.65%
EO 15.91% 75.00% 9.09% 0.00%
AO 25.00% 75.00% 0.00% 0.00%

UKEF staff are welcome to attend DIT and wider civil service faith networks. UKEF’s 1 Horse Guards Road office also features a multi-faith prayer room.

11. Marital status by grade

Grade Single Married/Civil Partnership Not declared Not reported
Senior Civil Service 29.41% 70.59% 23.53% 0.00%
Grades 6 and 7 27.55% 68.37% 3.06% 1.02%
SEO and HEO 50.00% 50.00% 0.00% 0.00%
EO 56.82% 43.18% 0.00% 0.00%
AO 62.50% 37.50% 0.00% 0.00%