As it is a part of your job application process, I assume its purpose is to help you to ensure that you are recruiting without unlawfully discriminating under the Equality Act 2010.
Sex is the protected characteristic and the only two possible options for sex are 'Female' and 'Male' as defined in the Act and consistent with biology, but you don't ask for that.
'Gender' and similar terms rely on demeaning, regressive stereotypical notions of societal roles for the two sexes, concepts with which I'm sure you would not wish to be associated. 10/21
I also note that the EHRC, in their own recruitment equality monitoring, ask for the sex of applicants with options of female and male. This would appear to be a good model to follow. 11/21
There is a protected characteristic of 'gender reassignment', but it is defined in the Act in terms different to those you use here and you don't ask about this protected characteristic.
Asking about a personal characteristic such as 'gender' that is not a protected characteristic under the Act, may be in breach of the UK GDPR by processing personal - and potentially Special Category - data without a lawful basis. 13/21
The Government provides a list of the personal data an employer may hold about an employee without their permission that you might also find useful. 'Gender' does not appear on that list, but sex does.
The EHRC state that information about a person's 'transgender status' is Special Category personal information under the UK GDPR. Sex is not, so conflating sex and 'gender' as you do may cause issues in processing the information lawfully.
If you choose not to gather data on specific protected characteristics (such as sex), you cannot have the information required to ascertain whether or not you could be discriminating on protected characteristics in recruitment. This could be vital in an employment tribunal 16/21
If you choose to discriminate on characteristics (such as 'gender') that are not protected characteristics under the Act, you may inadvertently indirectly discriminate on protected characteristics. 17/21
You might also like to take note of what employment and discrimination Barrister Akua Reindorf said in her report for the University of Essex and in particular Recommendation 18:
I would also suggest you read this report that highlights the risks and dangers (both reputational and legal) of relying on and processing inaccurate, misleading or downright wrong information about protected characteristics under the Equality Act.
Language and meaning of words are important and proper use & understanding of terms is vital so that the public is aware of what rights they have and what your duties are. Any confusion or inconsistency over meaning may prevent people from accessing their rights in law. 20/21
Will you undertake to correct these errors and to review all your other policies, documents, reports, etc to ensure compliance?
The 'Diversity Information' section of your job application form says information provided "will be used for reporting and monitoring purposes only". 1/20
As it is a part of your job application process, I assume its purpose is to help you to ensure that you are recruiting without unlawfully discriminating under the Equality Act 2010.
The 'Equality and Diversity' section of your job application says you "require the information ... to monitor equality and diversity opportunities". 1/22
As it is a part of your job application process, I assume its purpose is to help you to ensure that you are recruiting without unlawfully discriminating under the Equality Act 2010.
You list three cross-cutting issues saying "Tracy’s Mayoral pledge of putting women and girls at the heart of this Police and Crime Plan". One of the Mayoral pledges is "To put keeping women and girls safe at the heart of her policing plan." 2/16
The "Special areas of focus" section of your survey asks, "What would you like to see the Mayor, West Yorkshire Police, and partner organisations do to help keep women and girls safe in West Yorkshire?" 3/16
...protected characteristics under Equality Act 2010.
However, none of these terms is a protected characteristic under the Act. Your also have omitted sex from the list, which is a protected characteristic. 2/28
The 'Diversity Questionnaire' in the application itself says you collect the information "to provide anonymised data analysis in order to better understand diversity and representation within our workforce and our applicants". 3/28
The 'Equal Opportunity' section of your job application says you will use the information "for the purposes of monitoring our equal opportunities policy". 1/19
As it is a part of your job application process, I assume its purpose is to help you to ensure that you are recruiting without unlawfully discriminating under the Equality Act 2010.
However, section 5.3. (titled 'Protected characteristics') lists 'gender' as a protected characteristic and cites a World Health Organization definition that highlights it as having a completely different meaning to that of sex. 2/12
Whilst this is interesting, it has no bearing on the protected characteristics under the Equality Act: they are all defined in the Act.
'Gender' is not a protected characteristic under the Act and is not defined in the Act.