GSS diversity and inclusion

Our ambition is to be inclusive in everything we do as outlined in the Government Statistical Service (GSS) People Priorities. And to ensure the statistics we produce are reflective of the society we serve. To achieve this we need to attract, retain and nurture talented and skilled people from diverse backgrounds drawing from a variety of experiences.

We aim to maximise the potential of all Government Statistician Group (GSG) members regardless of their sex, gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, faith, age or socio-economic backgrounds.

Our action plan

We will:

• expand our employment offering, promoting inclusive entry routes
• increase diverse population within the GSG
• develop best practice ways of working within the GSG

Our aspirations have links to the work of the wider Government Analysis Function, which supports the Civil Service’s analytical professions and other government analysts. We will encourage and promote collaboration with our colleagues and align our work with Government Analysis Function Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Strategy by following the three pillars of activity.

These are:

• attract a diverse range of candidates to working in government analysis
• build diverse expertise and talent across the function
• create an inclusive function culture for all

We will share updates on our progress via news and blog posts.

Making the GSS more diverse and inclusive

Actions taken to make the GSS more inclusive and to attract a diverse mix of staff:

• run annual recruitment campaigns for Level 4 Data Analytics and Level 6 Data Science Degree Apprenticeships
• conduct a review of apprenticeships and apprenticeship recruitment
• requests for recruitment management information and metrics to include diversity data
• introduction of video interviewing to improve accessibility
• continued work on our student pipeline which includes the Summer Diversity Internship Programme
• greater collaboration across GSS teams to access more management information on diversity and inclusion
• extend the Reverse Mentoring scheme to the Analysis Function

The D&I Shadow Board has now been embedded into the GSS People Advisory Group (PAG).

Working group

The GSS Diversity and Inclusion Working Group is made up of volunteers from across the GSS. The group work on GSS specific diversity and inclusion workstreams aligned to the GSS People Priorities.

The group will share best practice across the GSS and the wider Analysis Function. Lived experiences will be shared through blog posts.

If you would like to volunteer for this working group, please contact the team at GSS.Careers@ons.gov.uk.

Questions about diversity and inclusion

You can contact the careers team at GSS.Careers@ons.gov.uk to ask any questions about diversity and inclusion.