Equality and Human Rights Commission

Ten years on from the establishment of the National Assembly, the Commission asked Dr Paul Chaney of Cardiff University to examine what devolution has done for the equality and human rights agenda in Wales.

Equality has had an important profile right from the Assembly’s inception. Equality campaigners successfully lobbied for unique equality clauses to be included in the 1998 Government of Wales Act. Section 120 required the Assembly to “make appropriate arrangements with a view to securing that its functions are exercised with due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people”.

The impact of this section was evaluated by Professor Ralph Fevre and Dr Paul Chaney of Cardiff University in 2003 in their report: An Absolute Duty. This year, we asked Dr Paul Chaney to update ‘An Absolute Duty’ to evaluate how equality and human rights have fared over the past decade. Dr Chaney prepared a report for the Commission – Equal Opportunities and Human Rights: The First Decade of Devolution in Wales.

Dr Chaney is senior lecturer in public policy at Cardiff University. He is convenor of the University’s MSc Degree scheme in Equality and Diversity. Dr Paul Chaney will be delivering the Commission’s first Annual Lecture on Wednesday 11th November 2009 at the Glamorgan Building, Cardiff University.