The Office for Tackling Injustices (OfTI) is a proposed UK government body announced on 12 July 2019.[1] It was said by Prime Minister Theresa May that it would work independently to encourage future governments to focus on addressing inequalities in society.[2] The body would collect evidence on disparities in areas including socio-economic background, ethnicity, gender, disability and sexual orientation.[3] Its role would be limited to collecting and publishing data, and it would not make any policy recommendations,[4][5] leading it to criticism for duplicating data-gathering functions already performed by bodies such as the Office for National Statistics.[6] The Guardian described the OfTI as a way for May to secure a legacy before a new leader was elected by the Conservative Party membership.[7]

In March 2020, The Observer reported that the organisation had not convened or submitted a budget since its inception, with one unidentified participant stating "(it) doesn't exist – it is never going to exist. It has been thrown into the long grass... People involved in it have never even been told what the plan was. They have heard nothing."[8]

References

  1. ^ "Office for Tackling Injustices: 15 Jul 2019: Hansard Written Answers". TheyWorkForYou. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Office for Tackling Injustices :Written statement - HCWS1723". www.parliament.uk. 15 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  3. ^ "Theresa May announces body to tackle social injustice". BBC News. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  4. ^ Kentish, Benjamin (12 July 2019). "Theresa May announces new 'Office for Tackling Injustices' as part of her legacy plan". The Independent. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  5. ^ "The new Office for Tackling Injustices needs "a clear remit to avoid duplication"- EHRC". PoliticsHome. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  6. ^ Hill, Henry (13 July 2019). "The next Prime Minister should scrap the Office for Tackling Injustices". ConservativeHome. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  7. ^ Mason, Rowena; Stewart, Heather (10 July 2019). "Social justice, not Brexit – Theresa May races to secure legacy". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  8. ^ Savage, Michael (21 March 2020). "Theresa May's social injustice office 'doesn't exist – and never will'". The Guardian.


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