The Equality Bill

The Equality Bill: positive action, clarity and transparency on equality performance driven through public sector purchasing, measured by a kite-mark for employers.

On Thursday June 26, Harriet Harman, Minister for Equalities, announced, to a mixed reception, the outline of the forthcoming Equality Bill. This Bill is set to replace existing complex discrimination laws which currently include nine major pieces of legislation, over 100 sets of statutory rules and regulations and over 2500 pages of guidance and statutory codes of practice.

United Kingdom Council for Access and Equality (UKCAE) welcomes the Government’s intention of de-cluttering discrimination legislation and its aim of using plain English to allow for greater understanding of the issues and looks forward to the draft Bill. UKCAE also notes the renewal of the EU social directive extending the measures preventing discrimination in all six strands beyond the workplace, to include health and social care, education and in the provision of goods, facilities and services.

The five key aspects of the Equality Bill are:

• The Public Sector to be bound by a single Equality Duty, as opposed to the current separate duties in relation to disability, gender and race. This Duty to further encompass gender reassignment, age, religion and belief, and sexual orientation.
• An end to age discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services and in carrying out public functions.
• A requirement for greater transparency over progress on equality and equal pay in the public and private sectors, including a ban on secrecy clauses in relation to pay, driven mainly through the power of public sector procurement, measured by a kite-mark for employers.
• Extending the scope of positive action to redress disadvantage and tackle discrimination - if employers are faced with two equally-qualified candidates, they will be able to choose, if they wish, to balance the diversity within their organisation and choose the candidate from an under-represented group.
• Strengthen enforcement through wider powers for employment tribunals.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) stated that "Today’s Bill is a landmark piece of legislation which, if implemented fully, will help millions of people to reach their potential at work."

The Equality and Human Rights Commission believes the Bill is a major step forwards to a fairer society, that in an era of social and demographic change, "organisations have to think about how they target resources efficiently – for example, making sure they reflect the needs of all their users." The Confederation for British Industry (CBI) welcomes the Government’s plans to "rightly concentrate on non-legal means of moving forward on equality – such as better use of public procurement and promoting positive action."

The Government’s next steps include:

• Working with relevant departments, organisations and public authorities to develop the specific duties underpinning the public sector Equality Duty;
• Working with stakeholders, including business, health and financial sectors, to further the proposals for an end to age discrimination;
• Working with departments on how the public sector can use its purchasing power to support the delivery of equality outcomes; and
• Working with the CBI and representative businesses, unions and the EHRC to develop proposals for improving reporting and performance on equality issues in the business community through the use of an "equality kite-mark" scheme for employers.

Please refer to the Equalities Office for more information or download a version of the report Framework for a Fairer Future – The Equality Bill (pdf 1mb).

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