FOI - GLA membership of Stonewall programmes [May 2022]

Your request

1. Any application you made (or intend to make) in 2021 or 2022 to be a Stonewall Diversity Champion or to be included on Stonewall's Workplace Equality Index, including any attachments or appendices to those applications. 
2. Any feedback you received in 2021, or to date, from Stonewall in relation to either application or programme.
3. Full details of any equality impact assessment you carried out connected with any of
   these applications (including any equality impact assessment carried out prior to an
   earlier application of the same kind, if no further assessment was done).
4. Details of the total amount of money you paid to Stonewall in 2021 and in 2022,
   whether or not as payment for goods or services.
5. Whether you intend to continue your membership of any Stonewall scheme in the
   future, and if so which scheme.

Our response

Membership of the Stonewall Diversity Champions programme does not require an application so we do not hold information in scope of your request in relation to that
programme.

We have records showing payment of Diversity Champion membership fees in 2021 (£2,500 plus VAT per year).

The GLA applied to Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index in 2021 for 2022. Please find
attached the information that we hold in relation to that application.

Within the document all names are exempt from disclosure under Section 40 (2) (personal
information) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, except for senior staff. This information would identify specific people and as such constitutes personal data which is defined by Article 4(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to mean any information relating to an identified or identifiable living individual. It is considered that disclosure of this information would contravene the first data protection principle under Article 5(1) of GDPR which states that personal data must be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject.

We also consider some third-party training materials that are captured by this request to be
exempt from disclosure under Section 41 and Section 43 (2) of the Act. For more information about these exemptions, please see Annex A at the end of this letter.

Notes:

The document that we hold includes the following information:

Workforce Report 31 March 2021

Inclusive London, the Mayor’s equality, diversity and inclusion strategy (May 2018)

Map of Community Views: COVID-19

GLA Draft Annual Governance Statement 2020-2021 included in our application and the definitive final Annual Governance Statement.

In reviewing our application, we became aware of some inaccuracies and outdated information that was captured as part of our searches:

‘Our Queer Achieves’ should read ‘Our Queer Archives’.

Gendered Intelligence is described as an ‘LGBTQ+ charity’. Whilst their legal objects are
couched in SOGIESC terms (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression and Sex
Characteristics) in acknowledgement of the synergies and intersectionalities of those
experiences, the need to work together, and to maintain associated developmental
options for the future, at the current time GI’s focus is around trans inclusion (including
trans folk who are LGBI+) and most people would regard GI as a charity that works with and for trans folk.

Gendered Intelligence’s mission is described on the GLA staff intranet as ‘to increase
understanding of gender diversity’. However, it is also ‘to improve trans people’s quality
of life’.

The GLA used an old Gendered Intelligence logo to advertise training to GLA staff.

The Trans Inclusion Resource List for Professionals (version 16, November 2020) is
included in the GLA’s application. This is also publicly available on GI’s website (latest
version 17: June 2021). 

Feedback has not been received for our latest application (made in 2021 for 2022) so we do not hold information in scope of this question.

The assessment of any equality impact would have been made by the decision maker so there is no written record to share.

The total amount of money paid to Stonewall in 2021 was £2,500 excluding VAT, the Diversity Champion membership fee and nil at 20 March 2022.

The GLA intends to continue our membership of the Stonewall Diversity Champions
programme.

Finally, you may be interested in a previous disclosure by the GLA on this subject, MGLA040221-5397/240221-6945

If you have any further questions relating to this matter, please contact us, quoting
reference MGLA210322-7362.