Equality Bill
The Government committed, in its 2005 General Election manifesto to
introduce an Equality Bill in this Parliament to review, simplify
and modernise discrimination law. To make this happen, the
Discrimination Law Review (DLR) was launched in February 2005 to
consider “the opportunities for creating a clearer and more
streamlined equality legislation framework which produces better
outcomes for those who experience disadvantage …while reflecting
better regulation principles.”
The DLR is led by the Government Equalities Office with the close
involvement of Ministers and officials in key Departments including
the Department for Work & Pensions, the Home Office and the Ministry
of Justice and in the Devolved Administrations. The review began
alongside, and drew lessons from the independent Equalities Review,
which carried out an investigation into the causes of
persistent discrimination and inequality in British society. The DLR
considered the Equalities Review’s findings which were reported to
the Prime Minister in February 2007 when developing proposals.
The DLR culminated in June 2007 with the publication of the
consultation paper: A Framework for Fairness: Proposals for an
Equality Bill for Great Britain which outlined the DLR’s proposals
to simplify, modernise, and increase the effectiveness of
discrimination law.
A copy of the
Review’s Terms of reference can be found
here
Preparing Britain for the Future
On 14th May 2008, the Government published Preparing Britain for
the Future, the Draft Legislative Programme 2008-09, which sets out the UK
Government’s plans for legislative and key non-legislative action in
next year’s Parliamentary session. To view the site link,
click here.
If you want to make Your Voice heard, you can comment on the
programme here.
Further information in your region can be found
here.
The DLR was set up alongside an independent Equalities Review,
chaired by Trevor Phillips, to look at the underlying societal and
cultural causes of disadvantage and inequality. The Equalities
Review published its final report, Fairness and Freedom, on 28
February 2007.
Further information about the Equalities Review can be found at:
http://www.theequalitiesreview.org.uk/
A Framework for
Fairness: Proposals for an Equality Bill for Great Britain
A consultation paper sets out the Government's proposals for an
Equality Bill for Great Britain. It was published on 12 June 2007,
the consultation ran for 3 months and closed on 4 September 2007.
The proposals were developed as a result of the Discrimination Law
Review, launched in February 2005 to consider the opportunities for
creating a clearer and more streamlined discrimination legislative
framework which produces better outcomes for those who currently
experience disadvantage.
The consultation focused on:
an analysis of the fundamental principles of
discrimination legislation
exploring the scope for harmonising and
simplifying current law
considering areas where protection is
currently inconsistent. In particular protection against discrimination in the
provisions of goods, facilities and services and the exercise of
public functions which is not currently provided in relation to age,
pregnancy and maternity and gender
reassignment
exploring positive action measures to address
entrenched discrimination and disadvantage
the effectiveness and scope of public sector
equality duties
exploring how public sector procurement can be
used to promote equality
exploring appropriate measures to protect
against harassment outside the workplace
updating discrimination law on grounds of sex and
gender reassignment
considering how to promote compliance with
discrimination law
reviewing dispute resolution procedures
Following the consultation we are also considering:
exploring options to permit representative actions and wider
recommendation powers in the courts
looking at a variety of measures to address the Gender Pay Gap
exploring the feasibility of permitting individuals to bring claims
based upon multiple-grounds
The consultation paper is available by clicking
here.
A summary version is also available
here,
the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA)
here,
the Equality Impact Assessment (EIA)
here
and the easy read
here.
What has been the
response to the consultation?
We have received around 4,000 responses to the consultation from a
wide range of stakeholders including the former equality
commissions, local authorities and private business. This massive
response shows that people feel that equality is extremely
important. A selection of responses to the consultation can be seen here.
The Government's response to the consultation can be found here.
How does the DLR carrying out its work?
The DLR was carried out on the basis of full engagement with
stakeholders. A Reference Group was formed to provide expert input
to both the Discrimination Law Review and the Equalities Review.
This involved stakeholders and experts from a range of perspectives
including all the relevant equality areas, human rights, business
and the public sector. The terms of reference of the Group can be
found
here and the membership of the Group can be found
here. This group was
assembled following the publication of the Equality Review and the
DLR consultation.
Welsh language
versions
To view a copy of the Welsh language version of the Summary which is
available here, the main consultation paper, which is available here, the Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) which is available here, and the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) which is
available here.
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Updated December 2007 | © Crown
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