We acknowledge the Committee’s recommendation regarding engagement with the work of the Committee. We recognise how important it is for departments to be held accountable, and that scrutinising the work of the GEO, and the wider Equality Hub, is a core element of the Committee’s functions. The Government wholly commits to engaging fully with the Committee and continuing to build a constructive relationship. 16. The Government responded to the consultation on GRA reform on 22 September 2020. As part of that response, the Minister for Women and Equalities made a statement in the Commons on 25 September 2020 and the Minister for Women followed this up in the Lords on 19 October 2020 providing Members of both Houses with the opportunity to ask questions and hold the Government to account. 17. In that statement, and in subsequent correspondence, the Government has been consistent in its position and about how that position was reached: through lengthy consideration and wide-ranging stakeholder engagement.