HARMAN: EQUALITY BILL WILL BUILD A FAIRER AND STRONGER BRITAIN
27 April 2009
Harriet Harman today published the Equality Bill which will make Britain stronger,
fairer and more equal.
The Equality Bill sets
out groundbreaking new laws which will help narrow the gap between
rich and poor; require business to report on gender pay; outlaw age
discrimination; and
will significantly strengthen Britain’s anti-discrimination
legislation.
The Bill will simplify the law which, over the
last four decades, has become complex and difficult to navigate.
Nine major pieces of legislation and around 100 other measures will
be replaced by a single Act written in plain English to make it
easier for individuals and employers to understand their legal
rights and obligations.
Despite considerable progress since 1997,
inequality and discrimination still exist which is why the law
needs to be strengthened.
- women are paid on average 23 per
cent less per hour
than men;
- disabled people are twice as likely to be out
of work;
- people from ethnic minority backgrounds are
nearly a fifth less likely to find work; and
- One in five older people are refused quotes
for motor or travel insurance, or car hire.
The Equality Bill is
expected to come in to force from autumn 2010.
Harriet Harman, Minister for Women
and Equality, said:
“The Equality Bill is part of building a
strong fair future for Britain out of the downturn. That means
fairness and opportunity. Especially in tougher economic times, we
need to face the problems fairly and we need to look for a fairer
future.
“Though we have ensured new rights and
opportunities for disabled people, for women, black and Asian
people and older people – there is still unfairness and
discrimination to tackle. And this Bill will take the action
necessary to tackle it.
“Today we publish our tough new Equality
Bill, promised in our manifesto, building on our actions
over the last 10 years. It will make Britain a more equal place,
and help us build a stronger economy and fairer society for the
future.
“We will shine the spotlight in every
workplace on the hidden pay discrimination against women.
“We will let employers have the right to
choose to diversify their team – with positive action.
“And we will end the last lawful
discrimination – which is against older people.”
“But we know that inequality is grounded
not just in gender, race, disability, age and sexual orientation –
but also by class. Your family or the place you were born. So
we will require public bodies when they make strategic decisions to
help narrow the gap between rich and poor.
“If there are unequal societies marred by
prejudice and discrimination, then people feel excluded, the
economy does not flourish, communities feel resentful, so you don’t
have a society which is at ease with itself.
“That’s why equality is vital - not only
important for the individual, but for society and the
economy.”
James Purnell, Secretary of State for
Work and Pensions, said:
"The Government wants to make sure each
person gets the help and support they need to overcome their
barriers to work, fulfil their potential and build a better life
for themselves and their families.
"The Equality Bill will work hand in hand
with our welfare reforms to ensure everyone, whether disabled or
non-disabled, young or older, is given the opportunity to make a
full contribution to society.
"We will not leave people to cope on their
own, without the help they need, especially those people least able
to compete in a downturn."
The Equality Bill will
strengthen our equality law by:
1.
Introducing a new public sector duty to consider reducing
socio-economic inequalities;
2. Putting
a new Equality Duty on public bodies;
3. Using
public procurement to improve equality;
4. Banning
age discrimination outside the workplace;
5.
Introducing gender pay reports;
6.
Extending the scope to use positive action;
7.
Strengthening the powers of employment tribunals;
8.
Protecting carers from discrimination;
9.
Offering new mothers stronger protection when breastfeeding;
10. Banning discrimination in
private clubs; and
11. Strengthening protection from
discrimination for disabled people.
Vera Baird, Solicitor General and
Minister who is taking the Equality Bill through the House,
said:
“Society is better when it’s equal. It’s
about getting the best out of everybody by making opportunity
available whatever characteristics they have.
“The Government is committed to creating a
more equal society with fair chances for everyone, that’s why we
have today published the Equality Bill, which will clarify and
strengthen the law.
“Employers will no longer be able to rely
on keeping their pay structure secret. We will ban secrecy clauses
in employment contracts, so that women can challenge unfair pay.
And we will encourage businesses to report on gender pay, but let
us make no mistake: if voluntary measures do not work, we will take
stronger measures to ensure equal pay for women.”
Maria Eagle MP, Deputy Minister for
Women and Equality said,
“Everyone has the right to be treated
fairly and to have the opportunity to fulfil their
potential.
“The Equality Bill announced today is a
major step towards tackling unfairness and discrimination and will
make Britain stronger, fairer and more equal.
“It significantly simplifies legislation,
to make it easier for individuals and employers to understand their
legal rights and obligations. It also strengthens the law.
Employers will no longer be able to hide gender pay discrimination
and public bodies will have to seriously consider how they can
actively close the gap between rich and poor.”
Community Cohesion Minster Sadiq Khan said:
“I welcome the Equalities Bill it will strengthen and
simplify the current law, setting out the rights of individuals and
groups.
“In the current climate it is more crucial than ever to have
safeguards in place to protect our communities. Discrimination of
any type should not be tolerated. The bill will aim to remove
barriers of opportunity for the most vulnerable in our communities
and outline guidance that employers and individuals can take
forward.
“As a government we have a role in ensuring that the
diversity which is a real strength of this country is successfully
managed and the bill should pave the way to achieve these
plans”.
More details of the Equality Bill are in “A
Fairer Future” which can be viewed at: http://www.equalities.gov.uk/
What is in the Equality Bill?
Everyone in society, not just the poor, is
adversely affected by inequality. Inequality leads to shorter,
unhealthier, and unhappier lives, and increases violence and social
problems. And
diversity leads to increased productivity and profitability. Equal
societies benefit everyone.
The Equality Bill
will:
- Make Britain more equal, and help build a
stronger society and economy for the future.
- Significantly strengthen and streamline
discrimination legislation, replacing nine major pieces of
legislation and about 100 other measures, spanning some forty
years.
- Require key public bodies to seriously
consider what action they can take to reduce the socio-economic
inequalities people face; ban age discrimination outside the
workplace against people aged 18 and over; require organisations to
report on gender pay; among other things.
- The majority of the Equality Bill will be
brought in to force in autumn 2010.
Social Economic
Duty
- Inequality is not just about your gender,
race, disability, age, or sexual orientation. It is also about
social class – your family background or where you were born.
- By the age of six, bright children from poor
families are overtaken by less able children from wealthier
families.
- The Equality Bill will put a new duty
on Government Ministers, departments and key public bodies (such as
Local Authorities, Primary Care Trusts, Police or Education
Authorities) to consider what action they can take to reduce the
socio-economic inequality people face when making strategic
decisions about spending and services. It would not
affect front line decisions about individuals.
- For example, poorer people tend to suffer
greater ill health, so a Strategic Health Authority may target
health advice or smoking cessation services at deprived areas.
However a hospital would not for example have to prioritise an
operation on a person from a deprived area.
- Many public bodies already do this; this duty
will mean the others will now have to catch-up.
- Inspectorates (such as Audit Commission) will
check for compliance.
Gender pay
reports
- Inequality cannot be tackled if it is hidden.
The Equality Bill will shine a spotlight on gender
pay discrimination, workplace by workplace, so problems can be
identified and action taken.
- Across the country women are paid on average
nearly a quarter less than men. In some sectors
such as financial services the gender pay gap is acute. A recent
inquiry by the EHRC found that in financial services, women are
paid up to 60 per cent less than men and 79 per cent less in
bonuses.
- The Bill will contain a power to
require reporting on the gender pay gap by employers with 250 or
more employees. However the
Government has committed not to use this power before 2013 and it
will only be used if sufficient progress on reporting has not been
made.The Equality and Human Rights Commission will
develop a set of metrics for gender pay reports in consultation
with business, unions and others over the summer. The Commission
will monitor progress on reporting within the private sector
annually.
- Public bodies (such as Local
Councils, hospitals and police forces) with more than 150 employees
will be required to report on gender
pay, as well as other equality data such as number of
disabled or Black, Asian and minority ethnic employees. This will
allow similar authorities to be compared so we can see where
progress has been made and share best practice. Details will be
consulted on over the summer.
- Nearly a quarter of employers ban their staff
talking about their wages, with women more likely to be in the dark
about colleagues’ pay than men. The Equality Bill will ban
‘secrecy clauses’ so that work colleagues can compare
wages if they want, and challenge employers who unlawfully pay them
less.
Banning age
discrimination
- Older people must not be written off or denied access to
medical treatment, financial insurance, or other goods and services
because of their age. It’s important that they play a full
role in society and are treated fairly.
- The Equality Bill will ban age
discrimination against people aged 18 and over
outside of the workplace, where goods are bought, and services
provided, such as in shops, hospitals, and when buying financial
products (it is already banned in the workplace).
- Things that are beneficial, such as free bus
passes, will still be allowed.
- This is particularly important as the
population ages: by 2050, over half of the UK’s population will be
over 50 years old. The number of people aged over 85 will double in
the next twenty years.
- The ban could mean that an older person is
offered lifestyle advice after suffering a heart attack, which may
currently only be offered to younger people, or that the price an
older lady pays for travel insurance is based on actual risk she
faces, rather than an arbitrary age-based fixed cost.
- Specifics will be consulted on this summer.
The Government will bring the new law into force more quickly in
sectors which are ready to comply, from 2012.
Positive action
- The Equality Bill will allow employers to
choose to take positive action to appoint a person
from an under-represented group, provided candidates are equally
suitable, and so balance things out if they want to.
- Evidence shows that people from some groups,
for whatever reason, do not get the same opportunities as others –
despite having similar qualifications. For example, only:
- Only three High Court Judges are
from an ethnic minority;
- Less than a fifth of
University Vice Chancellors are women;
- Less than twelve per cent of
board directors in the UK’s top 100 companies are women; and
- Not a single elected Member of
Parliament is an Asian women.
- Some businesses want to
increase the diversity of their workforces, perhaps to access new
markets, gain fresh insights, or get a difference perspective.
- It makes sense for local organisations and
public bodies to reflect and so better
understand the communities they serve.
- The most suitable person must still get the
job – the merit principle still applies.
- Positive action will be entirely
optional, and is absolutely not about quotas.
- Business benefits of a
diverse workforce include increased efficiency and productivity,
attracting new business, increased understanding of customers’
needs, and filling skills gaps.
- For example, a business may want to
increase the number of women on its board. A
recent study in France showed that a higher proportion of female
managers reduced the volatility of a business's share
price. Last
year, when almost all shares fell, it found that the fewer women
managers a company had, the greater was the drop in its share
price.
- Fortune 500 firms with more women on the
board outperform their rivals and are more
profitable.
- The Equality Bill will allow political
parties to continue to use All Women
Shortlists to select parliamentary candidates until
2030 - at least another five general elections.
- Positive
discrimination (employing someone because of a
characteristic regardless of merit) will remain
illegal.
- The CBI, TUC, and the Equality and Human
Rights Commission support positive action.
Private members
clubs
- Nobody should be treated as a second class
citizens – whether a women, disabled, black or Asian, or gay.
- So the Equality Bill will ban private
members’ clubs from discriminating against members or their
guests, for example a golf club cannot bar a women from
playing on certain days, while allowing male members to play
whenever they like.
- People would be outraged if disabled or Black
people were only allowed to play in their local golf club on
certain days, so why should women be restricted?
- We recognise that there are benefits to clubs
with ‘shared characteristic’, so same sex clubs, gay
associations, clubs for people of a particular religion, etc, will
still be allowed.
New Equality Duty on the public
sector
- Public bodies already have duties to consider
how their spending decisions, employment practices, and services
they provide affect people according to their race, disability, or
gender.
- The Equality Bill will replace these with a
new streamlined and strengthened Equality
Duty, which will be extended to also cover sexual
orientation, gender reassignment, age, and religion or belief, so
that people get fairer opportunities and better public
services.
- For example, a town planner might use
drop-down kerbs and accessible public toilets for wheelchair users,
or the council provide extra park benches in local parks, so that
older people can benefit from public spaces as well as younger
people.
Procurement
- The public sector spends £175 billion every
year on goods and services provided by the private sector. Nearly a
third of firms sell goods or services to the public sector.
- The Equality Bill will make it clear that
public bodies can use procurement to drive
equality when they are buying goods and services from private
sector firms. This will be consulted on over the summer.
- For example, a council commissioning a
construction project for a social regeneration scheme could require
the contractor to run a positive action programme to train women in
under-represented areas such as plumbing or carpentry, or
pre-qualification criteria could be stated.
Strengthening employment
tribunals
- Employment Tribunals can
currently make recommendations to organisations to improve work
practices – but only in relation to the individual who brought a
case, who often ends up leaving anyway.
- The Equality Bill will allow tribunals to
make wider recommendations to firms, which can
benefit everybody in the workforce and help prevent similar types
of discrimination happening again.
Protecting Carers From
Discrimination
- It is currently unlawful to discriminate
against or harass someone because they are ‘linked to’ or
‘associated with’ a person who is of another sexual orientation,
race, or religion or belief (e.g. if an employer discriminates
against an employee because she is married to an Asian man that
will be unlawful).
- The Equality Bill will extend this to
age, disability, sex, or gender reassignment (e.g.
protecting the carer of a disabled person).
- An employer could not refuse to promote a
member of staff just because he cares for an older relative.
MEDIA ENQUIRIES
Please contact the Government
Equalities Office press office on:
0207 276 0988 / 0207 276 0932 / 0207
276 0996 / 0207 276 0991
NOTES FOR EDITORS
- The Equality Bill will cover England,
Scotland, and Wales. Northern Ireland has its own equality
legislation.
- The Equality Bill will
replace the Equal Pay Act 1970, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975,
the Race Relations Act 1976, the Disability Discrimination Act
1995, much of the Equality Act 2006, the Employment Equality
(Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, the Employment Equality
(Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003, the Employment Equality
(Age) Regulations 2006, and the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation)
Regulations 2007 (where applicable, as subsequently amended), plus
other ancillary pieces of legislation.
- The National Equality Panel
is independent and consists of academic experts in inequality. It
is chaired by leading academic Professor John Hills and is
analysing how people’s life chances are affected by factors such as
where they were born and family background, as well as gender,
race, and whether they have a disability. It will provide the
Government with an authoritative analysis of inequality in Britain
by the end of 2009.
- Last summer’s ‘Framework for a Fairer
Future - The Equality Bill’ and the Government’s response to
the Discrimination Law Review can be downloaded from http://www.equalities.gov.uk/
- The Government is publishing its new
ageing strategy later this year, which is looking
at creating an age friendly society, preparing for and living well
in later life, as well as making sure stronger protection and
support is available: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/ageing-society/preparing/
- The Government Equalities
Office is responsible for the Government’s overall
strategy, legislation and priorities on equality issues. It was
established in October 2007.
- The Equality and Human Rights
Commission is a statutory body established under the
Equality Act 2006, which took over the responsibilities of the
Commission for Racial Equality, Disability Rights Commission, and
Equal Opportunities Commission as well as taking on new
responsibilities for sexual orientation, religion or belief, age
and human rights. It is the independent advocate for equality and
human rights in Britain. It aims to reduce inequality, eliminate
discrimination, strengthen good relations between people, and
promote human rights.
Aged 18 or
over, outside of the workplace
Subject
to successfully passing through Parliament.
Wilkinson and Pickett (2009): The Spirit Level: Why More
Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better
According to
the former Equal Opportunities Commission in 2004.
Details
of the new age discrimination ban will be set out in secondary
legislation made under the Equality Bill. Age discrimination is
already banned in the workplace.
According to
recent research by Ceram, the French business school.
Except
skin colour – clubs restricted to black or white people are
illegal.