Government Equalities Office

Government Equalities Office

The new Government Equalities Office will take on responsibility for the Government's overall strategy and priorities on equality issues. This will include the Discrimination Law Review, the Single Equality Bill, and the Equality PSA; sponsorship of the Equality and Human Rights Commission; and the response to Trevor Phillips' Equalities Review.

It will also be responsible for policy on gender equality, including the Minister for Women's priorities, and sexual orientation and for integrating work on race and religion or belief equality into the overall equality framework.

The office is responsible for the sponsorship of the following non departmental public bodies:

Equality and Human Rights Commission
Women's National Commission

GEO Ministers develop policies relating to equality and gender and ensure that work on this is co-ordinated across Government.

Ministers

Leader of the House of Commons, Lord Privy Seal and Minister for Women and Equalities is The Rt. Hon. Harriet Harman QC MP and is supported by Barbara Follett MP who is Parliamentary Under Secretary of State.

The Rt. Hon. Harriet Harman QC MP

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The Rt Hon Harriet Harman QC MP was appointed Leader of the House of Commons, Lord Privy Seal, Minister for Women and Labour Party Chair on 28 June 2007, and Cabinet Minister for Equality on 26 July 2007.

Leads on:

Government's Legislative Programme
Managing the Business for the House
Government's Representative in the House (House of Commons Commission)
House of Commons Representative in Government
Modernisation of the House of Commons
MPs/MEPs Pay, Allowances and Pensions
Chair of the Board of Trustees for Chevening Estate
Minister for Women and Equalities.

Harriet qualified as a lawyer, worked at Brent Law Centre in London, then became legal officer at the National Council for Civil Liberties and was elected MP for Camberwell and Peckham following a by-election in 1982. In 1984 she was appointed to the Labour front-bench as spokesperson for Social Services, becoming Spokesperson for Health in 1987 and Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury in Labour's Shadow Cabinet in 1992. Previously she was appointed as Secretary of State for Social Security in 1997 and Minister for Women in the same year; appointed Solicitor General in June 2001; appointed Minister of State at the Department for Constitutional Affairs on 9 May 2005; appointed as Minister of State at the new Ministry of Justice on 9 May 2007.

Studied politics at York University, then qualified as a lawyer.

Barbara Follett MP

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Barbara Follett is Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, and Minister for the East of England.

Leads on:

Supports the Minister for Women and equality on the equalities agenda.
Minister of the East of England

Barbara is MP for Stevenage and was first elected in 1997.

Barbara was a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Tessa Jowell as Minister for Women from 2005 to 2006 and as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport from 2006 to 2007. She was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Ruth Kelly as Minister for Women from 2006 to 2007.

Barbara was a member of the Commons Select Committee for International Development from 1997 to 2001 and the Select Committee for the Modernisation of the House of Commons from 2001 to 2005.

Barbara was born in Jamaica and lives in Knebworth with her husband, author Ken Follett, and their two dogs. Between them they have five children and two grandchildren.

Jonathan Rees - Director General

Priorities in the period to Easter:

Completing the establishment of the Office as a separate department, including sorting out our budget, terms and conditions, creating a clearer distinct identity and agreeing new governance arrangements
Agreeing a business plan for the next two years, after which we can review where we best put our inevitably limited resources
Focussing on some key policy areas and in particular strengthening communication with our Ministers on them.

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