FOI 2025/1209

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I seek the following information:

1. How many equality, diversity and inclusivity posts are employed in NHS Greater Manchester?
2. What is the annual total cost of employment (i.e. salary, benefits, employers NI, employers pension contributions etc) of such posts and any necessary direct administrative support?
3. What percentage of a) the overall costs of employment; and b) number of directly employed personnel in NHS Greater Manchester does this represent?
4. How many of these posts are filled by applicants who have a protected characteristic as defined by the Equality Act 2010?
5. How many of these posts are filled by ethnic minority applicants?
6. What is the number and annual cost of external training bodies and courses for equality, diversity and inclusivity training?
7. What was the equivalent number of DEI posts and costs in March 2020 and March 2022?

1. As of Month 12, in the 2024/25 financial year, NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board (NHS GM) employed a total of 5.90 (WTE) staff within its Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) team. Total headcount – 7. This workforce supports NHS GM as an employer and Greater Manchester as a system to address workforce and health inequalities.
2. The annual total cost of employment for EDI staff, including on cost, for the 2024/25 financial year is £492,261.

3a. This equates to 0.5% of overall costs of employment.

3b. This equates to 0.4% of directly employed staff.

4. The Equality Act 2010 identifies a range of protected characteristics. Some of these characteristics provide for protections for every member of society rather than just for minority groups. For example, the Equality Act defines Age as a protected characteristic but does not define whether this is protection against discrimination based on “old age”, “middle age” or “young age” or any other category. Therefore, NHS GM is of the view that all individuals have one or more protected characteristics under the Equality Act.
5. NHS GM does hold the information requested. However, this information is exempt from disclosure under section 40 (2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as it constitutes personal data where disclosure would be in breach of the Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) 2018. This exemption is not subject to the public interest test.
6. Over the last twelve months we have had five Equality Diversity and Inclusion training providers with a total annual cost of £22,906.
7. NHS GM was formed on the 1 July 2022 and does not hold structural information for predecessor organisations.