UK Export Finance Public Sector Equality Duty Compliance: 2021-22
Published 2 February 2023
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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.
UK Export Finance (UKEF) has in place several initiatives to reduce workplace inequality and works with its staff networks to achieve its diversity and inclusion objectives.
2. Equality, diversity, and inclusion objectives
To achieve our mission, 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 2024.
2.1 Gender Equality Objective
As of 31 March 2022, the department had 497 employees, of which 44.06% were female and 55.94% 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.
As of 31 March 2022, 27.59% of UKEF Senior Civil Service (SCS) staff were female. We have set a target of increasing female representation at SCS grades in the Department to 40% by 2024.
2.2 Disability Objective
UKEF has dedicated itself to becoming a better place to work for individuals with disabilities. A key part of this is to increase representation of currently under-represented groups. In February 2021, UKEF renewed its Level 3 Leader status of the Disability Confident scheme. UKEF is committed to the Disability Confident campaign and will continue to review its standards to reach its aspiration of being a role model department and a fully inclusive employer.
As of 31 March 2022, 6.04% of UKEF staff reported having a disability. We have set a target to increase the proportion of staff who report having a disability to 8% by 2024.
2.3 Ethnic Minority Objective
As of 31 March 2022, 33.20% of UKEF staff were of ethnic minorities. We have set a target to increase the proportion ethnic minority staff to 35% by 2024.
2.4 Inclusivity Objective
UKEF supports the Civil Service ambition of 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.
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 has published the report relating to the timeframe 2020 to 2021 and the next report will be available on 31 March 2023.
In 2021, the national gender pay gap for all employees as reported by ONS was 15.4%. UKEF’s mean pay gap decreased from (13.9%) in 2020 to (13.00%) in 2021.
4. UK Export Finance Workforce Diversity Data 2021-22
The data used to produce this report are displayed in percentages by grade group as of 31 March 2022.
- Gender by grade
- Age by grade
- Ethnicity by grade
- Disability by grade
- Sexual orientation by grade
- Religious beliefs by grade
- 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 given.
The table below explains the grade grouping used throughout this report.
| Grade | Grade group |
|---|---|
| SCS3 (highest grade) | 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 (lowest grade) |
5. Gender by grade
| Grade | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| Senior Civil Service | 72.41% | 27.59% |
| Grades 6 and 7 | 63.53% | 36.47% |
| SEO and HEO | 53.88% | 46.12% |
| EO | 34.92% | 65.08% |
| AO | - | - |
As of 31 March 2022, the department had 497 employees, of which 44.06% were female and 55.94% 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.
As of 31 March 2022, 27.59% of UKEF Senior Civil Service (SCS) staff were female. We have set a target of increasing female representation at SCS grades in the Department to 40% by 2025.
From 31 March 2017, public sector organisations with more than 250 employees are required to publish gender pay data on an annual basis. UKEF has published the report relating to the timeframe 2020 to 2021 and the next report will be available on 31 March 2023.
In 2021, the national gender pay gap for all employees as reported by ONS was 15.4%. UKEF’s mean pay gap decreased from (13.9%) in 2020 to (13.00%) in 2021.
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% | 13.79% | 37.93% | 37.93% | 10.34% | 0.00% |
| Grades 6 and 7 | 0.00% | 5.88% | 24.12% | 32.94% | 25.88% | 6.47% | 4.71% |
| SEO and HEO | 0.00% | 24.57% | 21.55% | 23.28% | 21.98% | 6.90% | 1.72% |
| EO | 0.00% | 49.21% | 15.87% | 12.70% | 17.46% | 1.59% | 3.17% |
| AO | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
7. Ethnicity by grade
| Grade | White | Ethnic minorities | Not declared | Not reported |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Civil Service | 79.31% | 20.69% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Grades 6 and 7 | 72.94% | 21.76% | 4.12% | 1.18% |
| SEO and HEO | 59.48% | 35.78% | 3.02% | 1.72% |
| EO | 39.68% | 58.73% | 0.00% | 1.59% |
| AO | - | - | - | - |
As of 31 March 2022, 33.20% of UKEF staff were of ethnic minorities. We have set a target to increase the proportion ethnic minority staff to 35% by 2024.
For the purposes of this report, staff that have declared their ethnic origin as ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) are described as all other ethnic groups combined, in line with the government’s preferred style for writing about ethnicity.
8. Disability by grade
| Grade | Disabled | Non-disabled | Not declared | Not reported |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Civil Service | 3.45% | 86.21% | 0.00% | 10.34% |
| Grades 6 and 7 | 5.88% | 84.71% | 1.76% | 7.65% |
| SEO and HEO | 4.74% | 89.22% | 1.72% | 4.31% |
| EO | 11.11% | 82.54% | 1.59% | 4.76% |
| AO | - | - | - | - |
As of 31 March 2022, 6.04% of UKEF staff reported having a disability. We have set a target to increase the proportion of staff who report having a disability to 8% by 2024.
UKEF has dedicated itself to becoming a better place to work for individuals with disabilities. A key part of this is to increase representation of currently under-represented groups. In February 2022, UKEF renewed its Level 3 Leader status of the Disability Confident scheme. UKEF is committed to the Disability Confident campaign and will continue to review its standards to reach its aspiration of being a role model department and a fully inclusive employer.
9. Sexual orientation by grade
| Grade | Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual | Heterosexual | Other | Not declared | Not reported |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Civil Service | 6.90% | 72.41% | 0.00% | 10.34% | 10.34% |
| Grades 6 and 7 | 3.53% | 84.12% | 0.00% | 5.88% | 6.47% |
| SEO and HEO | 4.74% | 81.47% | 0.86% | 7.76% | 5.17% |
| EO | 6.35% | 92.06% | 0.00% | 1.59% | 0.00% |
| AO | - | - | - | - | - |
UKEF staff are welcome to attend the wider DBT LGBT+ and the Civil Service LGBT+ networks.
10. Religion or belief by grade
| Grade | No religion | Religion or belief declared | Not declared | Not reported |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Civil Service | 27.59% | 55.17% | 17.24% | 0.00% |
| Grades 6 and 7 | 38.24% | 50.59% | 9.41% | 1.76% |
| SEO and HEO | 28.88% | 62.50% | 7.33% | 1.29% |
| EO | 33.33% | 63.49% | 3.17% | 0.00% |
| AO | - | - | - | - |
UKEF staff are welcome to attend DBT 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 | 24.14% | 75.86% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Grades 6 and 7 | 39.41% | 55.88% | 1.76% | 2.94% |
| SEO and HEO | 54.31% | 44.40% | 0.43% | 0.86% |
| EO | 76.19% | 22.22% | 0.00% | 1.59% |
| AO | - | - | - | - |