FOI - Expenditure on equality, diversity, and inclusivity.
Dear Historic Royal Palaces,
I wish to make an FOI request, as set out under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Please can your organisation provide in Excel CSV format, the following information:
a) The number of roles in your association (expressed in numbers of FTE), that are mainly or exclusively focussed on issues of equality, diversity, or inclusivity. For example, this could include (amongst other guises) “EDI officers” or “diversity and inclusion project managers” but would not include general HR managers.
b) Either a) the pay band of each of these roles, or b) the combined total salaries for these roles. Whichever measure is more in accordance with your data preferences.
c) In the past 12 months the number of staff days across your organisation which have been committed to attending equality training programmes, whether internally run or with external consultants. (staff days = duration of the training programme multiplied by the number of staff in attendance for the course).
d) The contractual cost of any consultants hired, in the past twelve months, to provide any external training or advice on issues of diversity, equality, or inclusivity.
e) In the past twelve months, the number of staff days committed to attending conferences relating mainly or exclusively to matters of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. (duration of conference multiplied by the number of staff in attendance).
f) The costs of attending these conferences.
g) Membership costs the organisation pays for participation in equality charters such as the Stonewall Equality Champions, or Diversity and Inclusion Workplace champions.
Please can this information be returned to me, via email, ([email address]) within 20 working days.
The most desirable csv layout would be the letter (a-g) in column A and then the information you hold in column B. If your organisation does not hold information in relation to any of the letters please file as N/A.
Yours faithfully,
Robert Bates
([Personally Identifiable Information removed])
Dear Mr. Bates,
I write in response to your email, dated 12 September, for information
under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) about our expenditure on
equality, diversity and inclusivity.
Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) is a team of people who love and look after
the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace, Kew Palace,
Banqueting House Whitehall and Hillsborough Castle. We are a charity and
we depend on the support of our visitors, members, donors, sponsors and
volunteers to give the palaces a future, for everyone.
Your request and our response is as follows:
a) The number of roles in your association (expressed in numbers of
FTE), that are mainly or exclusively focussed on issues of equality,
diversity, or inclusivity. For example, this could include (amongst other
guises) “EDI officers” or “diversity and inclusion project managers” but
would not include general HR managers.
HRP has a 0.8 FTE curatorial role whose work is directly focused on
introducing inclusive perspectives into all our research relating to the
people who lived and worked at the palaces under our care.
b) Either a) the pay band of each of these roles, or b) the combined
total salaries for these roles. Whichever measure is more in accordance
with your data preferences.
The pay range for the role noted above is Pay Range 6 (£40,537.00 to
£46,227).
c) In the past 12 months the number of staff days across your
organisation which have been committed to attending equality training
programmes, whether internally run or with external consultants. (staff
days = duration of the training programme multiplied by the number of
staff in attendance for the course).
In the past 12 months, all staff (750) have been asked to do one hour of
training relating specifically to promoting diversity and inclusion for a
total of 750 hours for the organisation.
d) The contractual cost of any consultants hired, in the past twelve
months, to provide any external training or advice on issues of diversity,
equality, or inclusivity.
You requested specific information regarding our suppliers and contract
types which is exempt under section 43 (2) of the FOIA. We believe that
it would be inappropriate to disclose the information you have requested
given its commercially sensitive nature so we will be withholding this
information.
Section 43(2) is a qualified exemption and we are required to conduct a
public interest test when applying any qualified exemption. In applying
this exemption, we have had to balance the public interest in withholding
the information against the public interest in disclosure. We accept that
there is a general public interest in openness and transparency. However,
we also believe that disclosure of the information requested would be
prejudicial to the interests of our suppliers. Disclosure would reveal
competitive elements of their bids, which they would otherwise have no
expectation of sharing, and would inhibit fair competition. We also
believe that our own commercial interests would be damaged by
disclosure. There would likely be a causal link between disclosing the
information requested and suppliers choosing not to bid for work with us
due to them not wanting their commercially sensitive information placed in
the public domain. This would be detrimental to us and would potentially
damage our services and our finances, making it more difficult for us to
act in our charity's best interests. It has therefore been decided that
the balance of the public interest lies clearly in favour of withholding
the information and the use of the section 43(2) exemption is
appropriate.
If you are a supplier and would like to be considered for future contract
opportunities with us, I recommend that you approach HRP in the normal
way. Please send your company details and information relating to the
goods and services your company provides to [1][email address]
e) In the past twelve months, the number of staff days committed to
attending conferences relating mainly or exclusively to matters of
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. (duration of conference multiplied by
the number of staff in attendance).
There have been courses/ webinars/ coaching sessions attended by various
staff. Training records are not centrally captured by HR so we cannot
provide any more specific details.
f) The costs of attending these conferences.
See above.
g) Membership costs the organisation pays for participation in
equality charters such as the Stonewall Equality Champions, or Diversity
and Inclusion Workplace champions.
HRP are not paid members of any organisations like those noted above.
I do hope this answers your request. HRP has an internal review procedure.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may request an internal
review by writing to The Head of Governance and Assurance via post (The
Head of Governance and Assurance, Chief Executive’s Office, Apt 39,
Hampton Court Palace, Surrey, KT8 9AU) or via email ([2][Historic Royal Palaces request email])
explaining your reasons for seeking a review.
If you are then not satisfied with the outcome of the internal review, you
may then apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision:
The Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
[3]www.ico.org.uk
Yours sincerely,
Vanessa Hodge
Head of Records
Historic Royal Palaces
VANESSA HODGE
Head of Records
Hampton Court Palace | Historic Royal Palaces | KT8 9AU
073 9314 7875
[4]hrp.org.uk
From: Rob Bates <[FOI #896887 email]>
Sent: 12 September 2022 13:23
To: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - FOI - Expenditure on equality,
diversity, and inclusivity.
Dear Historic Royal Palaces,
I wish to make an FOI request, as set out under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000.
Please can your organisation provide in Excel CSV format, the following
information:
a) The number of roles in your association (expressed in numbers of
FTE), that are mainly or exclusively focussed on issues of equality,
diversity, or inclusivity. For example, this could include (amongst other
guises) “EDI officers” or “diversity and inclusion project managers” but
would not include general HR managers.
b) Either a) the pay band of each of these roles, or b) the combined
total salaries for these roles. Whichever measure is more in accordance
with your data preferences.
c) In the past 12 months the number of staff days across your
organisation which have been committed to attending equality training
programmes, whether internally run or with external consultants. (staff
days = duration of the training programme multiplied by the number of
staff in attendance for the course).
d) The contractual cost of any consultants hired, in the past twelve
months, to provide any external training or advice on issues of diversity,
equality, or inclusivity.
e) In the past twelve months, the number of staff days committed to
attending conferences relating mainly or exclusively to matters of
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. (duration of conference multiplied by
the number of staff in attendance).
f) The costs of attending these conferences.
g) Membership costs the organisation pays for participation in
equality charters such as the Stonewall Equality Champions, or Diversity
and Inclusion Workplace champions.
Please can this information be returned to me, via email,
([email address]) within 20 working days.
The most desirable csv layout would be the letter (a-g) in column A and
then the information you hold in column B. If your organisation does not
hold information in relation to any of the letters please file as N/A.
Yours faithfully,
Robert Bates
([Personally Identifiable Information removed])
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Historic Royal Palaces is a registered charity (No 1068852),
correspondence details, Hampton Court Palace, Surrey KT8 9AU Historic
Royal Palaces Enterprises Ltd, a company registered in England (No
3418583) registered office Hampton Court Palace, Surrey KT8 9AU.
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