Equality Bill - Background

The Government is committed to creating a fair society with fair chances for everyone. For society to be fair people must have the chance to live their lives freely and fulfil their potential. To achieve this we need to tackle inequality and root out discrimination.

Equality not only has benefits for individuals but for society and the economy too. A more equal workforce is a stronger workforce. A more equal society is one more at ease with itself. To help us create the equal and fair society we all want to see we will introduce an important new package of measures. At the heart of this package is the new Equality Bill which was announced in the Queen's Speech on 3rd December 2008. Please click here for the press release

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 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.

Discrimination Law Review Terms of Reference

A Statement by the Minister for Women and Equality

On Thursday, June 26 the Minister for Women and Equality, the Rt Hon Harriet Harman QC MP, made a statement to the House of Commons, repeated in the House of Lords by Baroness Andrews, setting out the main themes of the Equality Bill which will be brought forward in Parliament within the next year.

On the same day the Government Equalities Office published Framework for a Fairer Future – the Equality Bill, which outlines the steps which will be taken to streamline and strengthen the law. Please click here for a Welsh copy.

On July 21st the Government published a comprehensive document on the content of the Equality Bill which also summarises the responses we received to the Discrimination Law Review consultation held last year Equality Bill - Government Response to the Consultation.

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.

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.

Equalities Review website

A Framework for Fairness: Proposals for an Equality Bill for Great Britain

A Framework for Fairness is a consultation paper that 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 (DLR).

The consultation paper- Discrimination Law Review.

Sample of consultation responses.

Government's response to the consulation.

How does the Discrimination Law Team carry out its work?

The DLR was carried out on the basis of full engagement with stakeholders. A Senior Stakeholder 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.

Senior stakeholder group