Read our updates since 26 June 2008
The Equality and Human Rights Commission welcomes today’s statement from Harriet Harman, Leader of the House of Commons, announcing the new Single Equality Bill. It is a proposal that offers a valuable starting point for shaping modern, simple equality law fit for the 21st century. At its most basic, we want a new fairness act aimed at allowing everyone, whatever their background, to fulfil their ambitions.
Trevor Phillips, Chair of the Commission, said:
‘This is the first step in a new generation of equality law. We want to enable people, businesses and the public sector to do the right thing.
‘We need an act that reflects our common sense of fair play – law that helps parents juggling work and family, law that gives the Asian girl from a council estate the same chance as the boy growing up on the other side of town, law that will stop anyone assuming people over some arbitrary age do not deserve the same rights afforded to the rest of us. The extension of the law to cover age discrimination will empower people to live full and fruitful lives defined by their capabilities and desires, not their age.
‘Britain is facing major social and demographic change. If organisations have to think about how they target resources efficiently – for example, making sure that they reflect the needs of all their users – we can be confident we are benefiting from the best public services and our taxes are spent wisely.
‘Critically this bill must help the private sector do a better job. Statistics prove many businesses that champion diversity have bigger profit margins because they understand their customers better. Sensible positive action measures can actually help businesses that take diversity seriously.
‘Positive action is not and should never be a charter for incompetency. What we want to see is a green light for employers to get the best out of a diverse workforce. We want common sense flexibility.
‘I want to give a couple of examples. What about MI5’s desire to hire British agents who are Muslim to help gather intelligence. Should that be unlawful? Or imagine a school where the head teacher has an all female staff. When she advertises for a new post she has three equally qualified candidates, one of whom is a man. Should it be unlawful for her to choose him? We don’t think it should and will be producing guidance to help employers in this area.’
The Equality Bill is a critical piece of legislation for the Commission which as regulator in this area sets standards and ensures individuals and organisations are treated fairly. The current law is complex, contradictory and confusing. If these proposals translate into a Bill that works in practice it will create a positive opportunity for the Commission to meaningfully fulfil its remit to create a fairer society for everyone, regardless of their background.
The proposals have a number of specific implications for the Commission which include:
- Helping service providers (hospitals, schools, local authorities etc) prepare for the changes required by the extension of the law covering discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services to cover age.
- Monitoring transparency and collection of data on issues of equality in the public sector and the effect of the public sector procurement in the private sector.
- Specific inquiries into the financial and professional services sector and the construction industries – sectors that benefit from a large amount of public sector procurement. The starting point for these inquiries, which will be launched this year, will be a period of evidence gathering.
- The development of an equality “kite-mark” designed to highlight best practice in the private sector.
- Producing guidance for employers about how to use positive action to help them achieve better services and delivery.
Updates
In addition to issuing this response, our Chair, Trevor Phillips, made several appearances on lunchtime news programmes, including Channel 4 and the BBC.
Other Organisations expressed also their views on the announcement, with the Confederation of British Institute (CBI) approving the Government's new means to promote equality, whilst Help the Aged & Age Concern issued a joint with response expressing their worry about the pace of reform. The proposals were mostly welcomed by the unions with the TUC calling it a ‘Piece of landmark legislation’.
The announcement sparked plenty of debate in the media and received high profile coverage. You can view a selection of the media reports below:
Downloads
Framework for a fairer future: The Equality Bill white paper
For more information contact the Equality and Human Rights Commission Media Office on 02031170255, out of hours 07767272818.
You can read more about the Single Equality Bill here
Ends
Notes to editors
The Equality and Human Rights Commission is a statutory body established under the Equality Act 2006, which took over the responsibilities of Commission for Racial Equality, Disability Rights Commission and Equal Opportunities Commission.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission is the independent advocate for equality and human rights in Britain. It aims to reduce inequality, eliminate discrimination, strengthen good relations between people, and promote and protect human rights.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission will enforce equality legislation on age, disability, gender, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation or transgender status, and encourage compliance with the Human Rights Act. It will also give advice and guidance to businesses, the voluntary and public sectors, and to individuals.