Taking each request in turn, I confirm the following:
1. How many staff (as measured by full-time equivalents) do you employ to work on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)?
Zero.
2. What was your spending on Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) for the financial year 2021/22 and what is the budget for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in the current financial year?
The spend on EDI in the financial year 2021/22 was £17,523.
We consider information relating to our EDI budget for the current financial year to be exempt from disclosure under section 43 of the FOIA, therefore, this information will not be disclosed.
Section 43(2) Prejudice to commercial Interests Under section 43(2) of the FOIA, information is exempt if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of OS.
In this case, we consider that disclosure of the EDI budget for the current financial year would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of Ordnance Survey. Releasing this information would provide our competitors with insight into our financial information for the current financial year.
This is a qualified exemption, and we are required to consider the public interest.
Public Interest Test
Ordnance Survey recognises the need for transparency. However, this must be balanced against the public interest in allowing the organisation to protect its commercial information and not place itself at a disadvantage in the competitive market in which it operates.
Section 43(2) is a prejudice-based exemption, and there is a public interest inherent in avoiding the harm specified. Ordnance Survey considers that the prejudice would be likely to occur and would involve an adverse effect on Ordnance Survey’s revenues if we were to release this information in a commercially competitive marketplace.
We are not aware of any wider public interest in this information.
3. What was your spending on Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) training for the financial year 2021/22 and what is the budget for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) training in the current financial year?
The spend on EDI training for the financial year 2021/22 was £4,123. Note that the figure for EDI training during the financial year 21/22 is approximate only as it is not a stand-alone training offering.
We consider information relating to our EDI training budget for the current financial year to be exempt from disclosure under section 43 of the FOIA, therefore, this information will not be disclosed.
Section 43(2) Prejudice to commercial Interests Under section 43(2) of the FOIA, information is exempt if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of OS.
In this case, we consider that disclosure of the EDI training budget for the current financial year would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of Ordnance Survey. Releasing this information would provide our competitors with insight into our financial information for the current financial year.
This is a qualified exemption, and we are required to consider the public interest.
Public Interest Test
Ordnance Survey recognises the need for transparency. However, this must be balanced against the public interest in allowing the organisation to protect its commercial information and not place itself at a disadvantage in the competitive market in which it operates.
Section 43(2) is a prejudice-based exemption, and there is a public interest inherent in avoiding the harm specified. Ordnance Survey considers that the prejudice would be likely to occur and would involve an adverse effect on Ordnance Survey’s revenues if we were to release this information in a commercially competitive marketplace.
We are not aware of any wider public interest in this information.
4. How many staff working days do you estimate were lost from regular work due to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) training for the financial year 2021/22 and what is your estimate of staff working days that will be lost from regular work due to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) training during the current financial year?
This information is not held; note that EDI training is not a stand-alone offer, but is integrated into all our learning products. However, in accordance with our duty to provide advice and assistance, we would estimate that around 150 days were lost due to EDI training in the financial year 2021/22, and we would estimate a similar number will be lost in financial year 2022/23.