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Black History Month ‘Celebrating Our Sisters’ Campaign

Date released
12 March 2024
Request number
202402062
Release of information under
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA)

Information requested

  1. For Black History Month, a poster and desk-poster campaign was run at ONR offices under the title "Celebrating Our Sisters" with pictures and biographies of women of colour. It is our understanding that Democrats, Labour peers and Labour Members of Parliament were featured. Please provide a list of the names all of the women featured, and confirm that not a single Conservative or Republican was featured, including Conservative cabinet members or Home Secretaries and any reason for this.
  2. It is our understanding that HR policies in relation to Equality are contained within a DEI (Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion) heading. Please provide a copy of DEI: Policies, training material, supporting documents (such as handouts, toolkits, guidance documents, etc)
  3. It is our understanding that several DEI documents (as listed above) contain calls to 'bring peers from under-represented groups into highly exclusive circles' , 'advocate for members of under-represented groups as keynote speakers and panellists' etc. Please provide any documents that contain calls to bring peers into highly exclusive circles or advocate for peers as key note speakers and panellists based on merit. We plan to assert that there are none without sight of these.
  4. Please provide the last staff survey score for the questions
    • In my experience, all ONR employees are held to the same standards of behaviour'.
    • I feel valued by ONR'

Information released

We confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we hold some of the information you have requested.

Question 1

We can confirm posters were displayed across ONR office locations from the official Black History Month resource pack.

We have attached the poster for your reference, entitled “BHM - Women Who Move Mountains”, which celebrates women who have made significant contributions to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields; an area of particular relevance to ONR. The featured women included:

  • Gisela Abbam, Chair of the General Pharmaceutical Council;
  • Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, space scientist, with a BSc in physics and Ph. D. in Mechanical Engineering;
  • Dr Nike Folyan, Chartered Engineer;
  • Dr Anne-Marie Imafadon, MBE, founder of STEMettes, a social initiative to inspire and promote STEM to young girls and women;
  • Professor Dame Elizabeth Nneka, Anionwu, health care professional, lecturer and Emeritus Professor of Nursing at University of West London;
  • Chi Onwurah, Electrical Engineer; and,
  • Dr Samantha Tross, Orthopaedic Surgeon.

To our knowledge, the poster did not feature a Conservative, Republican, Conservative cabinet member or Home Secretary. Whilst Chi Onwurah was featured, our understanding is that she is the elected Labour MP for Newcastle Central and a campaigner on gender issues. The rationale for the purchase of the posters was to celebrate Black History Month and in particular women who have made a significant contribution to the field of STEM.

The posters were purchased as an official resource and they were not an internal resource, nor was there any focus on or allegiance to any political party; merely a recognition of the contribution these women have made to STEM in their chosen fields.

Correction and clarification

Subsequent to our response above, clarification was subsequently sought by the requestor and our response was amended. The requestors follow-up request (FOI202403066) highlighted that the campaign was named ‘Saluting our Sisters’ as opposed to ‘Celebrating our Sisters’ in the original request. We subsequently provided copies of the ‘Saluting our Sisters’ posters.

For clarity, the posters were purchased on behalf of the Gender Equality Network and were solely for the purpose of demonstrating women who have made a contribution to their field. There was no political intention or meaning behind the posters other than promoting and celebrating women as part of Black History Month.

Question 2

We have enclosed copies of our DEI policies, training material and supporting documents. There are fifteen documents and they are entitled:

Please note that information relating to our staff members has been redacted from the enclosed documents as it constitutes personal data. The release of this type of information could identify an individual either directly or indirectly, and as such, any personal data that could identify another individual has been withheld under the remit of exemption s.40(2) of the FOIA.

Question 3

We do not hold any documentation containing calls to bring under-represented peers into highly exclusive circles or advocate for members of under-represented groups as keynote speakers or panellists.

Correction and clarification

Subsequent to our response above, clarification was subsequently sought by the requestor and our response was amended. We acknowledged that we advised in our initial response that we did not hold this information with regards to the specific wording above, which was human error and to clarify further, the information we provided did contain the words described above.

When talking about underrepresented peers, we were referring to ‘peers’ as colleagues across ONR, and not members of the House of Lords. From a diversity and inclusion perspective, when we refer to underrepresented groups, we are referring to colleagues from one of the nine protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

The ‘Being a Good Ally Toolkit’ supports the ‘Being a Good Ally’ training, which strives to support colleagues from underrepresented groups from within the protected characteristics.

Question 4

The results from our last staff survey, conducted in 2022, for the questions listed, are as follows:

  • 'In my experience, all ONR employees are held to the same standards of behaviour' – 56%; and,
  • 'I feel valued by ONR' – 51%.

Further information

We note that some of the documents enclosed contain security markings such as ‘official senstive’, however have been deemed appropriate to release in response to your request. As such, the security status on the documents become null and void once released under FOI.

Exemptions applied

s.40

PIT (Public Interest Test) if applicable

N/A