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News from the Equality and Human Rights Commission
Thursday 1 August 2024 |
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| Welcome to the Equality and Human Rights Commission's latest newsletter.
In this edition you will find a summary of our work in July 2024, including: - News
- Our response to the King's Speech
- Gender pay gap reporting
- Our Strategic Plan 2025-2028: Your views welcome
- Regulatory action
- Final call for evidence: Investigation and assessment into the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
- Guidance and advice
- Updated guidance on discriminatory adverts
- Using equality data to understand and tackle race inequalities in maternity and antenatal care
- Consultation responses
- Response to the Joint Committee on Human Rights: Legislative scrutiny of the Criminal Justice Bill
- Response to the Department for Education: Review of relationships, health and sex education statutory guidance
- Response to the Office for Students: Proposed regulatory advice and other matters relating to freedom of speech
- Response to Scottish Parliament: National Performance Framework - proposed National Outcomes
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News | | Our response to the King's Speech |
We have responded to the King's Speech, which outlined the new government's priorities, including the legislation it intends to introduce as well as other policy priorities.
We welcome some of the positive developments for equality and human rights – we are pleased to see the draft bill to ban conversion practices was included and look forward to receiving more detail on the Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill.
As Britain’s equalities regulator and a National Human Rights Institution, we stand ready to provide government and Parliament with advice as the detail of all the proposed legislation is developed. | | | Read our full response to the King's Speech | | Gender pay gap: non-reporters |
Prominent defence and security company Ultra Electronics are among six organisations who have missed the deadlines to report their 2023-2024 data on average difference in pay in their companies between men and women.
Organisations with 250 or more employees are legally required to publish their gender pay gap information annually. Our litigation and enforcement policy explains how we decide what action to take against employers who do not follow the rules.
We sent reminders and warning notices to over 600 non-reporters between April-May that had missed their initial deadline. Since then, almost all of those organisations have reported, but six still have not.
We will be writing to those organisations who haven’t reported this year, and if needed, be taking enforcement action. | | | Read the full list of gender pay gap non-reporters on our website | | Our Strategic Plan 2025-2028: Your views welcome |
We are part-way through our public consultation on our upcoming Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan sets out three key areas where we can drive improvements and create long-term change.
These are:
Visit our website to read more about the consultation (including in accessible formats) and to give your views. The consultation closes on 3 October 2024.
Thank you to those who have already completed the survey. If you have started the survey but not finished it, please remember to do so and submit your response by the closing date. | | | Take part in our Strategic Plan 2025 – 2028 consultation | | | Access alternative formats of our plan: BSL video and Easy Read | |
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Regulatory action | | Final call for evidence: Investigation and assessment into the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) |
Our call for evidence survey for our investigation and assessment into the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is open for three more weeks.
We are investigating whether the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, or his employees or agents at the Department for Work and Pensions, have broken equality law.
We are seeking evidence of cases where a claimant with a mental impairment needed a reasonable adjustment during their health assessment but weren’t provided with one, and as a result, suffered detriment.
If you are a whistleblower, charity, third sector or advocacy organisation, disabled people’s organisation, welfare benefits advisor, legal professional, academic or researcher, we strongly encourage you to provide evidence using our online survey. Your contribution may be vital to the investigation and assessment.
Our call for evidence survey will close at 23:59 on 22 August 2024. | | | Read about our investigation and assessment and how you can contribute evidence | | | Fill in our call for evidence survey | |
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Guidance and advice | | Updated guidance on discriminatory adverts |
We have updated our guidance to explain what a discriminatory advert is and how to make a complaint if you think you have been discriminated against.
A discriminatory advert is one which restricts jobs, goods, services or facilities to people with a protected characteristic covered by the Equality Act 2010. They are illegal, except in very limited circumstances explicitly permitted by the Equality Act 2010.
Our refreshed guidance provides greater clarity around ‘occupational requirements’, under Schedule 9 of the Equality Act 2010, where an employer can require a job applicant or employee to have a particular protected characteristic if it is necessary for the role.
Our guidance will support employers and individuals to understand where adverts are lawful and where they are potentially unlawful and discriminatory. | | | Read our updated guidance on discriminatory adverts | | Using equality data to understand and tackle race inequalities in maternity and antenatal care |
We have published a policy briefing focused on using equality data to understand and tackle race inequalities in maternity and antenatal care.
The briefing explores how collecting and using equality data can promote patient safety and improve services, especially for women and babies from ethnic minority backgrounds. It also explains how collecting and using this data can support service improvements.
The briefing will be useful for those working in a range of health bodies including practitioners, service managers and policy makers. | | | Read our briefing on using equality data to understand and tackle race inequalities in maternity and antenatal care | |
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Consultation responses | | Response to the Joint Committee on Human Rights: Legislative scrutiny of the Criminal Justice Bill |
We responded to the Joint Committee on Human Rights regarding the Legislative Scrutiny of the Criminal Justice Bill.
Our response highlighted equality and human rights considerations relevant to two aspects of the Bill: the transfer of prisoners in England and Wales to prisons abroad (Clauses 25-29) and police access to driver license records (Clause 21).
We raised concerns about the Bill’s lack of detail and its compliance with human rights laws. We also highlighted issues with the expanded use of biometric information and implications for equality and human rights, particularly the right to privacy guaranteed by Article 8 (the right to a private and family life) and Article 14 (freedom from discrimination) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
| | | Read our response to the Joint Committee on Human Rights: Legislative scrutiny of the Criminal Justice Bill | | Response to Department for Education: Review of relationships, health and sex education statutory guidance |
We have responded to the Department for Education’s consultation on relationships, health and sex education statutory guidance.
Our advice focuses on the UK government’s human rights obligations, including those under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Under this convention, the UK government is obliged to do all it can to protect children from all forms of physical and mental violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. Our recommendations highlight the importance of the guidance in promoting children’s right to receive information that helps them understand their rights and protect them from harm. | | | Read our response to Department for Education: Review of Relationships, Health and Sex Education statutory guidance | | Response to the Office for Students: Proposed regulatory advice and other matters relating to freedom of speech | |
We have responded to the Office for Students regarding their proposed regulatory advice and related issues concerning freedom of speech.
Our 2022-25 strategic plan sets out our objective to ensure that ‘The right to freedom of expression is upheld, so that individuals can take part in political and public discussion on complex and challenging topics’. This is particularly important in universities.
Our consultation response emphasises the need for higher education providers to be equipped with the guidance and tools they need to protect the right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. We also highlighted the importance of fulfilling their other important responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010. | | | Read our response to the Office for Students: Proposed regulatory advice and other matters relating to freedom of speech | | Response to Scottish Parliament: National Performance Framework - proposed National Outcomes |
We welcomed the opportunity to respond to Scottish Parliament’s consultation on their proposed National Outcomes as part of the National Performance Framework.
Our response focuses on the equality aspects of the new Equality and Human Rights National Outcome, in line with our mandate. We set out our view on the need for clear links between different elements of high-level national governance and reflected on the needs of the equality legal framework.
Overall, we welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to ensuring equality has a specific focus in the revised National Outcomes. | | | Read our full response to Scottish Parliament: Proposed National Outcomes | |
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