The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has released its Public Sector Equality Duty report for 2025–2026, setting out the organisation's stated progress on equality, diversity and inclusion.
Three Areas of Focus
According to the report, the MHRA's equality commitments are structured around three distinct domains: its regulatory functions, its engagement with members of the public, and the practices governing its internal workforce.
The inclusion of regulatory activity as a dedicated strand is notable. Medicines and device regulation affects how products are assessed, licensed and monitored — processes that, in principle, can carry implications for how different population groups are represented in clinical evidence and how safety signals are identified across diverse demographics.
Public Engagement and Workforce
The report also addresses how the agency interacts with the broader public, a function that encompasses communications, consultations, and accessibility of information. Separately, workforce-related equality measures form the third pillar of the document, reflecting obligations under the Equality Act 2010 that apply to public bodies in England, Scotland and Wales.
Under the Public Sector Equality Duty, organisations such as the MHRA are required to have due regard to eliminating unlawful discrimination, advancing equality of opportunity, and fostering good relations between people who share protected characteristics and those who do not.
Sparse on Detail
The published summary provides limited granular information beyond the three-area framework. No specific targets, metrics, or outcomes are detailed in the available source material, meaning the full scope of the agency's commitments and any measurable progress remain contained within the complete report document.
The MHRA's decision to publish the report reflects a statutory requirement rather than a discretionary disclosure, situating it within a broader landscape of public accountability obligations that apply across UK government bodies.