AQO 1716/22-27

Mr Peter Martin
Democratic Unionist Party
North Down

Tabled Date: 27/02/2025
Answered On Date: 11/03/2025
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Finance, in light of funding provided by his Department to Stonewall for services and advice, to outline any advice received from Stonewall that has been implemented by his Department.

Answer:

The Civil Service here is an equal opportunities employer, committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the society we serve.

Stonewall is one of several organisations the Civil Service engages with to support our wide-ranging work on equality, diversity and inclusion.

Annual Civil Service membership of the Stonewall Diversity Champions Programme is £2,575 and provides access to training and resources to support the creation of LGBTQ+ inclusive working environments.

When developing Civil Service inclusion interventions, a wide range of information from multiple sources is considered including learning from training; statistics; benchmarking with other organisations; best practice research; and the lived experience of the Civil Service LGBTQ+ Staff Network.