Trade Unions: Equality
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2025 to Question 91039 on Trade Unions: Equality, how many (a) chairs and (b) committee members are entitled to use their work time for network activity; and what the name is of each diversity network in (i) his Department and (ii) NHS England.
Answered by Karin Smyth
The Department advises that up to three individuals per network, including chairs, co-chairs and committee members, may receive a 10% work time allocation for network activity, with line manager agreement. The Department has eight recognised diversity networks which align with characteristics protected under the Equality Act 2010 and/or characteristics particularly important to our organisational demographic:
- Age Network;
- Disability, Neurodiversity, Long-term Conditions and Carers Network;
- Faith and Belief Network;
- Parenting Network;
- Race Network;
- Sex Network ("sex" in the Equality Act 2010 refers specifically to biological sex recorded at birth, not acquired gender, and as such this network covers sex, with supporting forums discussing 'men's' and 'women's' issues);
- Sexuality and Gender Network; and
- Social Equality and Support Network.
NHS England does not set an organisation wide allocation or entitlement of protected time for staff network chairs or committee members. Any arrangements for time spent on network activity are agreed locally, based on business need.
NHS England has 12 staff networks:
- Ability;
- Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic;
- Carers and Family Network;
- Christian Network;
- Disability and Well-being;
- Jewish;
- LGBTQIA+;
- Menopause;
- MultiKultural;
- Muslim;
- Neurodiversity; and
- Women’s.
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