Creating a fairer Britain
The Commission strongly welcomes the Equality Bill. It represents a once-in-a-generation chance to rationalise and strengthen Britain's equality legislation, providing a firm foundation for a fairer society in which everybody has the chance to fulfil their potential.
For 40 years British equality legislation has enabled those who are mistreated at work or overlooked by public services for discriminatory reasons to pursue justice through the courts. We have made good progress in tackling the most egregious examples of discrimination, because individuals and organisations now know that they can be brought to account.
However, chronic disadvantage and inequality persist. Half of disabled people are out of work. A Bangladeshi woman is six times as likely to be unemployed as a white woman. A child's postcode at birth is a reasonable predictor for their lot in life as an adult. Our choices and chances in life are still, to a great extent, determined by our origins.
This is not simply the product of ill will on the part of either individuals or organisations; it is a systemic bias. And while people may win individual victories here and there, progress will be slow at best and will depend upon those who make great sacrifices in order to take their cases through the courts. The real challenge is to achieve a wholesale shift in attitudes, looking at how to really improve our systems and structures in order to give everyone a fair chance. This is what the Equality Bill will enable us to do.
The Bill spells out that organisations have to look at the evidence and examine their processes, finding ways of delivering for everyone, regardless of race, gender, disability, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation or gender identity.
Since 1997, Britain’s equality legislation has been added to so that everyone has similar – though not identical – levels of protection from discrimination in the workplace, regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender reassignment, religious and non-religious belief and sexual orientation. Most people are also protected from discrimination on these grounds when accessing private and public sector goods, facilities and services. Public authorities have a duty to promote equality of opportunity and to eliminate discrimination and harassment on grounds of race, disability, sex or gender reassignment. There are additional duties to promote equality for the Welsh Assembly Government, the Scottish Government and the Greater London Assembly.
Although the Commission welcomes the wider protection that has resulted from the combination of recent legislation and the much older law on race and sex discrimination, the incremental way the law has developed has resulted in unnecessary complexity. There are 116 different acts of parliament, regulations, codes of practice and guidance. Similar concepts are expressed in different words and different tests are applied to what might be thought of as similar situations. Significant parts of the law are contained in decisions and interpretation by judges and courts in the UK and the European Union, rather than in the legislation itself. This situation often makes it very difficult for employers, service providers, individuals, and even expert advisers, lawyers, courts and tribunals, to know exactly how to apply the law in particular circumstances.
The Commission therefore welcomes the government’s commitment to use the Equality Bill to ‘declutter’ our discrimination laws and to make the law clearer.
This is an important opportunity to make the law more consistent across different groups. Every group should receive the same protection in every area of activity unless there is a very good reason to leave them out. This will make it much easier for everyone – employers, service providers and individuals – to understand and apply the law.
In tidying up the law and making it more consistent, the Equality Bill should not erode the rights that people currently enjoy. The Commission expects the final Equality Act to fulfil the commitment given in the Discrimination Law Review consultation paper, A Framework for Fairness (2007):
"In harmonising and simplifying, we [the government] intend to keep broadly the same level of protection from discrimination as we have in the current law, which has generally worked well in addressing inequality for individuals without placing unnecessary burdens on those who have to comply with it. We want the law to put right situations where there is clear unfairness, and to address real problems, as well as help to promote good practice as a way of avoiding discrimination."
For public bodies, simplifying the currently complex legislation into one single duty will make it easier to tailor pubic services to meet their communities’ needs. The simplified approach and improved targeting should increase the effectiveness and efficiency of public spending.
The Bill represents a real opportunity to improve the way we pursue fairness and equality in Britain. It is now imperative to ensure that it receives Royal Assent before parliament is dissolved prior to the next general election, which must be held on 3 June 2010 at the latest.
The proposed timetable is ambitious. If the Bill does not receive Royal Assent before parliament is dissolved, it may fail or be significantly compromised. As supporters of the Bill, therefore, we intend to do everything in our power to ensure its success. That means that we may not support some measures which, while desireable, may mean that the Bill runs out of time.
Download the full version of our Equality Bill: Lords Second Reading briefing (Word)