Pursuant to the answer of 20 May 2026 to Question 1185 regarding the Council of Europe: LGBT+ People, the supported project is officially titled "Promoting human rights and equality for LGBTI persons."

Information regarding the project's scope is publicly available on the Council of Europe’s website at the following link: https://www.coe.int/en/web/sogi/promoting-hr-for-lgbti-persons

Specific details of the 36 activities are currently withheld from the public domain by the Council of Europe. The activities take place in some of Europe's most challenging environments for LGBT+ individuals; specific details are withheld from the public domain to ensure the safety and privacy of those involved and to ensure the efficacy of the work.

In accordance with standard practice, additional information regarding the event, including associated costs, will be released at the appropriate time. Officials are working to ensure the event is delivered as cost-effectively as possible, in line with the Government’s usual approach to spending public money appropriately and in line with value-for-money principles.

We will also learn the lessons from the previous government’s failed attempt to host the ‘Safe To Be Me’ conference in July 2021, billed as the world’s first global LGBT+ rights conference with a budget of more than £5 million, and eventually scrapped in April 2022 with estimated irrecoverable losses of up to £0.6 million.

The UK Government provided a one-off voluntary contribution to support the work of the Council of Europe’s LGBT+ programme. This programme funds activities designed to enhance the legislative and institutional capacities of national stakeholders, ensuring they can effectively uphold and advance the human rights of LGBT+ persons. To date, the project has successfully supported over 36 activities across 16 member states and Council-wide initiatives, focusing on legal reform and policy implementation.

Future funding decisions will continue to be reviewed and provided based on an assessment of performance, demonstrable impact, and value for money.

Information regarding materials supplied by Common Purpose for the training day will not be disclosed as it is deemed commercially sensitive. Approval for the training day expenditure was granted by a Senior Civil Servant (SCS), not a Minister, as the cost fell within the SCS's delegated authority to approve spend. The spend occurred prior to the Government implementing new controls in April 2025 and followed a robust, compliant procurement procedure in line with Cabinet Office policy.

Common Purpose was paid £6,900.00 to provide a one-off day of team development covering the subject of ‘leadership’ for the Office of Equality and Opportunity in February 2025.

Common Purpose was paid to provide a one-off day of team development for the Office of Equality and Opportunity in February 2025.

Interfaith relations are vital for strong, cohesive communities.

That is why the Government funded Inter Faith Week last year and then commissioned a consultation on its future.

The consultation report was published in May and provides a strong evidence base for future planning and co-ordination of interfaith relations.

Government is currently finalising support for Inter Faith Week 2025.

Alongside this, MHCLG funds grassroots programmes such as Near Neighbours and Schools Linking which promote dialogue and understanding across communities.

This Government is committed to increasing representation of disabled people in elected office. Earlier this year, the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work wrote to political parties represented in the House of Commons to seek support in ensuring that disabled candidates and people in elected office have the support they require.

The Government has been clear that political parties have a responsibility to support disabled candidates.

The UK Government Disability Action Plan consultation did include a proposal to review funding of elected office support and explore the merits of a long-term funding solution. The responses to this consultation are currently being analysed with a response to be published in due course.

Membership of the Inclusion at Work Panel is currently being determined by the Minister for Women and Equalities and the Chair of the Panel, Pamela Dow. The broad criteria was set out in Action 69 of Inclusive Britain, specifically that the Panel should be ‘made up of academics and practitioners in business’. Panel members will be appointed on a voluntary basis - these will be unpaid roles. The Equality Hub, based in the Cabinet Office, will provide the Secretariat to the Panel.

The Panel’s remit will be to develop and disseminate resources that can help employers achieve fairness and inclusion in the workplace more effectively. They will also develop a new, voluntary, Inclusion Confident Scheme for employers who want to demonstrate their commitment to implementing the most efficacious diversity and inclusion practices.

The Panel will also consider how best to take forward the work on pay transparency. This includes whether a pilot is the best way to progress this work and if so, what the timetable for this work would be.

We’ve made great progress in increasing the number of girls studying STEM subjects but we need to do more to get women into STEM jobs. To support this, we have launched a new STEM returners programme to refresh and grow the skills of people who have taken career breaks to care for others. Women Returners has been awarded £150,000 to support parents and carers back into the workplace through sector-specific refresh training and work opportunities. The first cohort of returners began training this May.

The Government continues to hold regular meetings with the Devolved Administrations, including Northern Ireland, and offers its support to all of the constituent parts of the UK in their promotion of inclusion and belief that women should be able to thrive regardless of where they live in the UK.

Equality is a fully transferred matter in Northern Ireland and the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland is currently undertaking a programme of work aimed at refreshing the policy frameworks for voluntary and community sector support. This includes agreeing with partners on the outcomes that should be prioritised in future years, together with a series of roundtables to discuss key questions of interest.

The Equality Hub is part of the Cabinet Office, and as such its priorities are published through their Outcome Delivery Plan. Work on the Cabinet Office Outcome Delivery Plan is underway and it will be published in due course.

We are fully committed to supporting disabled people in the UK through creating more opportunities, protecting their rights and ensuring they fully benefit from, and can contribute to, every aspect of our society.

Local Authority funding is a matter for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

The Equality Hub was formed by bringing together four units: the Disability Unit, Government Equalities Office, Race Disparity Unit, and the Social Mobility Commission secretariat. It is part of the Cabinet Office, and as such its annual accounts and priorities are published through their annual reporting. These are set out below:

The Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts:

• 2020-21: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1002878/15640_CO_Annual_Report_2020_2021_digital_temp.pdf,
• 2021-22: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2021-22.
• 2022-23: The annual report and accounts for 2022-23 will be published after the end of the financial year.

The Cabinet Office Outcome Delivery Plan:

• 2021-22: setting out the Equality Hub (including GEO and RDU) priorities is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-outcome-delivery-plan/cabinet-office-outcome-delivery-plan-2021-to-2022#improving-levels-of-equality-across-the-uk.
• The Outcome Delivery Plan for the next period is being prepared.

The work of the Equality Hub is also scrutinised by the Women and Equalities Select Committee. The Hub provides financial and staffing information when requested, most recently here: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/34198/documents/188113/default/

The Equality Hub was formed by bringing together four units: the Disability Unit, Government Equalities Office, Race Disparity Unit, and the Social Mobility Commission secretariat. It is part of the Cabinet Office, and as such its annual accounts and priorities are published through their annual reporting. These are set out below:

The Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts:

• 2020-21: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1002878/15640_CO_Annual_Report_2020_2021_digital_temp.pdf,
• 2021-22: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2021-22.
• 2022-23: The annual report and accounts for 2022-23 will be published after the end of the financial year.

The Cabinet Office Outcome Delivery Plan:

• 2021-22: setting out the Equality Hub (including GEO and RDU) priorities is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-outcome-delivery-plan/cabinet-office-outcome-delivery-plan-2021-to-2022#improving-levels-of-equality-across-the-uk.
• The Outcome Delivery Plan for the next period is being prepared.

The work of the Equality Hub is also scrutinised by the Women and Equalities Select Committee. The Hub provides financial and staffing information when requested, most recently here: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/34198/documents/188113/default/

Women’s centres play a vital role in supporting women in the community and the Ministry of Justice is investing up to £24 million in community support for women in 2022-25.