 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | October 2007 |
| Jurisdiction | England |
| Headquarters | London, England |
| Annual budget | £16.7 million in 2019-20[1] |
| Parent department | Cabinet Office |
| Website | [1] |
TheOffice for Equality and Opportunity, formerly known as theGovernment Equalities Office, is the office of theBritish government with responsibility forsocial equality. Based in theCabinet Office, it is led by theMinister for Women and Equalities.
The Office for Equality and Opportunity is responsible for leading on equality policy including women's equality, race equality, LGBT+ equality, disability equality, socio-economic equality and the overall framework of equality legislation for the UK.[2] It contains three smaller equalities units within it known as theDisability Unit, theRace Equality Unit and theWomen and Equalities Unit.
Prime ministerGordon Brown created theGovernment Equalities Office (GEO) as a newministerial department on 12 October 2007, led byHarriet Harman asMinister for Women and Equality,Lord Privy Seal andLeader of the House of Commons.[3]
WhenDavid Cameron became prime minister, the GEO was transferred to become a part of theHome Office, led byTheresa May asMinister for Women and Equalities andHome Secretary.[4] Between 2012 and 2019, the GEO was transferred again repeatedly to thedepartment that the new Minister for Women and Equalities was concurrently theSecretary of State for.
Since April 2019, the GEO has been permanently based within theCabinet Office.[5] In October 2024, the GEO was renamed theOffice for Equality and Opportunity (OEO).[6]
The women and equalities ministerial team are typically appointed to the department that the Minister for Women and Equalities leads by virtue of their other Cabinet appointment. Since July 2024, underBridget Phillipson (Minister for Women and Equalities andSecretary of State for Education), all OEO ministers have been appointed to theDepartment for Education.[7]
As of 7 September 2025[update], the OEO ministers and spokespersons are as follows:[6][8]
| Minister | Office | Portfolio |
|---|---|---|
| Bridget Phillipson | Minister for Women and Equalities | Strategic oversight of the equalities legislative framework and government equality policy for women, ethnicity, disability and LGBT+; sponsorship of theSocial Mobility Commission andEquality and Human Rights Commission |
| Baroness Smith of Malvern | Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities) | Equalities framework; legislation and policy on women, disability, LGBT+, and race; equality data and analysis; sponsorship of theEquality and Human Rights Commission |
| Stephen Timms | Minister of State (Minister for Social Security and Disability) | Oversight of Disability Unit including disability elements in equality legislation; disability policy and benefits; oversight ofHealth and Safety Executive |
| Seema Malhotra | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities) | Race and ethnicity elements in equality legislation; race and ethnicity policy |
| Olivia Bailey | LGBT+ legislation including on conversion practices, and theConversion Practices Bill | |
| Lord Collins of Highbury | Government spokesperson for Equalities in the House of Lords |
The budget for the GEO reached £76 million in 2010-11. Following a spending review this was set to decrease each year, to £47.1 million in 2014-15.[9] The budget continued to decrease year-on-year, with £16.7 million being allocated in 2019-20.[10]
The OEO has had different forms over the years. It was created in October 2007 when the Women and Equality Unit, based within theDepartment 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:
| Dates | Cabinet Minister | Unit status |
|---|---|---|
| October 2007–May 2010 | Harriet Harman | Independent department |
| May 2010–September 2012 | Theresa May | Home Office |
| September 2012–April 2014 | Maria Miller | Department for Culture, Media and Sport |
| April–July 2014 | Nicky Morgan (for women) Sajid Javid (for equalities) | |
| July 2014–July 2016 | Nicky Morgan | Department for Education |
| July 2016–January 2018 | Justine Greening | |
| January–April 2018 | Amber Rudd | Home Office |
| April 2018–April 2019 | Penny Mordaunt | Department for International Development |
| April 2019–September 2019 | Cabinet Office | |
| July–September 2019 | Amber Rudd | |
| September 2019-September 2022 | Liz Truss | |
| September 2022-October 2022 | Nadhim Zahawi | |
| October 2022 - July 2024 | Kemi Badenoch | |
| July 2024 – present | Bridget Phillipson |
In June 2011, it emerged that female staff at the GEO received 7.7% more pay than males on average. The information came to light following aFreedom of Information request by MPDominic Raab. The enquiry also revealed that almost two thirds of the department's 107 staff were female. Raab criticised the department fordouble standards, stating "It undermines the credibility of the equality and diversity agenda, ifbureaucrats at the government equalities office are preaching about unequal representation and thepay gap, whilst practising reverse".[11] The differences between the genders became marked from 2008 under the leadership ofHarriet Harman with the pay gap almost doubling from that time and six out of seven new jobs going to women.[citation needed]
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.[12]
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51°29′53″N0°08′33″W / 51.4981°N 0.1424°W /51.4981; -0.1424
