Rt. Hon. Jacqui Smith MP

Fairness for all: a new Commission for Equality and Human Rights

Anne touched on some of the legislative changes that we have been prepared to make to discrimination legislation. An important step forward, but we know that equality and human rights legislation is not enough on its own to bring about both culture change and a real lived change in people's experiences.

In Fairness for All, our White Paper on the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights, we set out to make the case for the importance of equality, fair treatment and diversity in every area of our society. We have emphasised the need to make these values a central feature of our understanding of the economy, the effective delivery of public services that meet the needs of all of us as individuals, how we live together in our communities and the need to redress the democratic deficit that leaves all our major institutions, not truly representative of the people they serve.

We must build, as several people have said, on the work of the current Commissions and the many other organisations working in this area. It is their commitment, energy, and dedication to challenging discrimination that has put equality and human rights on the map. But alone, and working separately, these are not enough. There is a powerful case for new approaches to the new challenges we face. That is why I believe the CEHR is so important.

Making the CEHR a reality will be a big challenge. As we all know, it is not easy to work with others who do not share our specific experiences, our histories, our priorities for the future. It can be frustrating to explain and justify our separate approaches to equality. But if we are to address the persistent discrimination that so many individuals and groups still face this is the challenge to which we must rise.

In many ways it is the work of the Scottish equality co-ordinating group and Scottish stakeholders across the equality spectrum that has been trailblazing in showing what can be achieved when different equality strands work together and the difference they can make by bringing one, stronger, unified voice to the table.

In my view, one of the strongest arguments for the CEHR is that it could create across the UK a forum where every community comes equally to the table, where the specificity and impact of different forms of discrimination are understood and acted upon, but where we leave behind the victim culture and empower all of us to become agents in shaping our own destiny. This is a strengthening of our ability to drive change, not a weakening. Working together has to be the way forward.

Because a step change in how we promote, enforce and deliver equality and human rights is now necessary if we are to achieve the prosperous and cohesive society we seek.

Which is why - how we get there is as important as the destination we hope to reach.

The CEHR Task Force, which I convened in December of last year, has played an important role in developing the White Paper with us. Let me reassure you that not only has the voice of Scottish interests been strong and visible on the Task Force, but Scottish interests have been well received and had wide-support across Task Force members.

It is the views of all task force members that have informed our proposals in the White Paper for Scotland.

The CEHR will bring, for the first time, a coherent approach to promoting equality and tackling discrimination across the six strands, and to promoting human rights.

We have made clear that this body will have a strong, authoritative voice, and be independent of government.

It will be an effective, but not heavy-handed regulator, balancing its approach between its regulatory and promotional functions. There are challenges on how the balance is best met, but this is the best way to go forward.

Working to change attitudes and behaviour will be at the heart of the CEHR's work, since these drive the systematic change needed to make a reality of equality of opportunity and reduce barriers to participation.

It will harness knowledge and experience to overcome and challenge discrimination and have a broader range of tools than is available at the moment to tackle the complexities of our diverse society.

It will also have a regional presence and be more responsive to local concerns.

We are nearing the end of the formal consultation period on the White Paper. I look forward to hearing feedback on your views today and receiving further responses to its proposals.

In particular, as we have made clear throughout the consultation and development of ideas, another important argument for change is the changing environment in the UK following devolution. The Government's devolution programme is a key part of our comprehensive plan of constitutional reform. Devolution has provided a strong, democratically elected Scottish Parliament. We do not underestimate the change, and benefits, that devolution has made to our society.

And it is with this in mind that we have tried, and I believe succeeded, to ensure our proposals in the White Paper provide the right building blocks to enable the CEHR to be effective in Scotland.

I would particularly welcome your views on our proposals for Scotland, which I will now turn to, and how the body should work with its stakeholders.

We have responded to the strong call for the body's arrangements in Scotland to fit well with devolved legislation, institutions and policies.

The CEHR's policies will take account of the distinct and evolving economic, political and cultural circumstances of Scotland and be responsive to Scottish needs.

We have listened to the key concerns of our stakeholders in Scotland and been in regular dialogue with equality groups and the Scottish Executive to discuss our proposals in more detail.

John Wilkes, who sat on the Task Force representing equality interests throughout Scotland, has played a prominent role in pushing the concerns of Scottish stakeholders to the fore. I would personally like to put my thanks on record for the forceful and helpful way he contributed his views in that discussion.

We believe we now have a framework that will allow the CEHR to interact with a wide variety of organisations and partners in Scotland.

The White Paper outlines our proposals to :

· establish an office in Scotland to help the body maintain a close working relationship with the Scottish Executive and the second tier organisations delivering services in Scotland. This will provide a channel for engaging in dialogue with distinct stakeholder and customer groups in Scotland.

· Appoint one member to the CEHR Board who will have special knowledge of Scotland. This appointment will be made in agreement with Scottish Ministers.

· Establish a Scotland committee to oversee the work of the CEHR in Scotland. The committee will have delegated powers to set priorities for and oversee some of the Commission's work in Scotland. It will also provide a Scottish perspective on the development of GB priorities and their delivery in Scotland.

· Place the CEHR under a statutory duty to lay annual reports on its activities in Scotland before the Scottish Parliament. This will help the CEHR to work in partnership with the Parliament on their equality work.

· Ensure the CEHR is able to co-operate with Scottish governmental, public sector and voluntary bodies, building on the good practice of the current commissions.

Following representations from John Wilkes and Scottish stakeholders, we are also proposing to include an express power in the Bill to allow the CEHR to bring judicial review proceedings in Scotland.

As I suggested earlier, our vision for the Commission is ambitious. Nothing less than to play a major role in building a more equal and prosperous economy; with cohesive communities built both on a recognition and respect of the differences between us, but also the importance of our shared values; where equal access to public services is based on our needs as individuals.

No organisation can deliver this alone. Partnership working will be at the heart of the CEHR. We intend to build on the excellent approach already widely adopted in Scotland for partnership working. There is much we can learn from your experience and much for you to contribute to how the body will work on a GB level.

This partnership approach will extend to the voluntary sector which is already performing a vital role in the provision of advice and support across all areas of equality and human rights. The CEHR will seek to add value to this sector, which possesses a wealth of expertise and knowledge, through forming effective partnerships and building capacity where required.

At the heart of the relationship with business, I believe, is an understanding that not only is there an ethical case for equality, there is also an economic case. Businesses depend on the ability to harness the talent and potential of everyone to ensure success and prosperity.

In Scotland, the CEHR will need to be sensitive to the particular size and make-up of businesses, where of 300,000 businesses in Scotland, 98 per cent are described as small, with less than 50 staff.

So we expect the CEHR to respond to the preferred ways of working and act as part of a network of providers. This will mean working with business representative organizations such as professional bodies and sector-based umbrella organisations to deliver advice and support.

By working to promote awareness of equality issues and advising on compliance and good practice, the CEHR will prevent costly tribunals and bring the benefits of a diverse workforce.

I believe that there is an important role for the CEHR to play in the public sector. Investment, whilst crucial, cannot alone ensure that our public services are delivered in a way that recognises each of us as individuals and that also tackles those areas of public service delivery where your gender, your race, your disability influences the quality and quantity of what you receive.

The CEHR will work with public service providers to help them comply with legislative obligations on equality and human rights and will promote and encourage the adoption of best practice in the delivery of services.

The White Paper also confirmed that we will take practical steps to implement our longstanding commitment to work towards introducing a new statutory duty on public sector bodies to promote equality of opportunity between women and men.

We intend that this duty will be applied with a light regulatory approach and be outcome focussed to ensure that, as both employers and service providers, public services are even more responsive to the different needs of men and women.

We will, of course, consult interested stakeholders and parties as this work develops.

None of us see ourselves as falling neatly within an equality strand. When we face discrimination in our lives, it is often made worse by a combination of factors. The CEHR provides the opportunity to more closely reflect the complexities of our lives and of the nature of inequality and discrimination.

Our aim is for the CEHR to provide high quality advice and information directly to individuals, while also working in partnership with other advice giving organisations to support this work.

So how are we going to make progress? To establish the CEHR will require primary legislation. We intend to bring a Bill before Parliament as soon as Parliamentary time allows. I can say this is a priority for government.

I intend to establish a Steering Group to oversee the work to be undertaken between now and the CEHR's inception. The Steering Group will consist of representatives from the 3 commissions, the new equality strands, and human rights. I also propose to include a representative from Scotland and one from Wales.

The new strands, who have not had access to the same institutional support as race, gender and disability, will play an important part in the transition process. They will help to steer and manage the preparatory work and implementation of the new body towards establishment.

To assist in raising awareness of the new strands, a further round of funding is available for sexual orientation and religion or belief. Officials from the Scottish Executive and Welsh Assembly Government will be fully involved in the process to consider bids for this funding and ensure that proposals to build capacity for the new strands adequately cover the whole of the UK.

I am also attracted to the idea of vesting the powers to support sexual orientation and religion or belief in the CEHR board as early as possible. This, and other transitional issues, will be something I will be tasking the Steering Group to give early consideration to.

Once the Bill has received Parliamentary approval the Chair and Commissioners will be formally appointed to the new Board. To ensure continuity from the legacy commissions, we intend to include three additional transitional commissioners, one from each of the three existing commissions. This will also ensure we do not lose the expertise and experience of the existing Commissions.

Before I finish, I know many of you are concerned about the imbalance in legislative provision for the new strands, and have made the argument for a Single Equality Act. I also recognise, as the Home Secretary said recently, that the scope of protection from religious discrimination is an issue of great importance, particularly for Muslim communities.

Let me outline my approach to these questions. For me this has never been a closed issue, but to go forward will take time, and I firmly believe that we cannot resolve these issues separately or in isolation.

This is a major debate in which the interests and views of many stakeholders must be understood and reflected. This government believes that the CEHR is the right body to take forward these discussions. One of the first tasks of the CEHR, when it comes into operation will be to review the legislative framework to ensure that it meets the needs of a modern Britain, with the aim of bringing forward a Single Equality Act.

We owe the existing Commissions a debt of gratitude for helping to transform attitudes and practice on disability, gender and racial equality and their hard work in bringing us to this point. They have laid an excellent foundation on which we can build. Now we are ready to adopt fresh approaches to meet new challenges.

Whatever people might tell you, everything is not cut and dried, not set in stone. The next stages will be just as challenging, if not more so, than now. But one thing I am certain of is that working together we can produce a more powerful and enduring champion of equality and human rights than we have ever had in this country before. That is why we need your input and your views today. To make sure we have the best possible approach to face up to the challenges we face, and realise our vision of a strong and effective body helping us to deliver a more cohesive, prosperous and equal Scotland.