Prior to April 2019, the GEO was led concurrently by Cabinet Secretaries at the Home Office, DFID and DfE.

Phillipson as Secretary of State for Education fulfils constitutional requirements to have a minister at full cabinet level.

Raab criticised the department for double standards, stating "It undermines the credibility of the equality and diversity agenda, if bureaucrats at the government equalities office are preaching about unequal representation and the pay gap, whilst practising reverse".

[6] The differences between the genders became marked from 2008 under the leadership of Harriet Harman with the pay gap almost doubling from that time and six out of seven new jobs going to women.

In an interview about her role, director Hilary Spencer said:I offer one-off career chats to people, including many women, who are trying to work out whether they can make the leap to the senior civil service and whether that’s compatible with family life.