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News from the Equality and Human Rights Commission
Monday 3 March 2025 |
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| Welcome to a special edition of the Equality and Human Rights Commission's newsletter. This month, we are reflecting on achievements from our current strategic plan (2022 to 2025) ahead of publishing our next three-year plan.
As Britain’s independent equality regulator and an accredited A-status National Human Rights Institution, our role is to make Britain a fairer place by promoting awareness, understanding, good practice and compliance with equality and human rights standards in public policy and legislation. We are also responsible for enforcing and upholding the laws that safeguard everyone’s right to fairness, dignity and respect.
In this newsletter we look back on some of our work from the last three years as we have been:
advising Parliaments and governments
providing guidance and advice
taking legal and regulatory action
engaging with the international human rights system
Anyone can sign up to receive our newsletter - please share this edition with anyone who may be interested in our work.
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Advising Parliament and governments | | Throughout this strategic plan period, we regularly provided Parliamentarians and governments with our expert advice on equality and human rights.
We advised the UK Parliament and UK Government on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, highlighting key equality and human rights issues related to this complex and sensitive topic.
We advised on the Worker Protection Bill as it moved through the legislative process to become law in October 2024. The law introduces a new preventative duty which requires employers to proactively protect their workers from sexual harassment with the aim of improving workplace cultures. It also gives us power to take enforcement action if organisations fail to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. We updated our preventing sexual harassment guidance to ensure employers understand the new obligations.
We advised on the Online Safety Bill as it was debated in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. We welcomed the moment it became law as a vital first step in addressing harmful content and behaviour online.
We also advised Parliamentarians considering the Employment Rights Bill on equality and human rights issues including those relating to zero-hour contracts and protections from harassment.
We published a comprehensive examination of Britain’s equality and human rights landscape over the past five years – the Equality and Human Rights Monitor - with a particular focus on the nine protected characteristics safeguarded by the Equality Act 2010. We produce this report for Parliament every five years on the extent to which equality and human rights are improving in Britain. The analysis provides an extensive overview of the progress and challenges in areas such as education, health, justice, and work, and includes recommendations for action. | | | Read more about our work advising Parliaments and governments | |
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Taking legal and regulatory action | | During this strategic plan period, we used our legal powers to enforce the Equality Act 2010 and protect human rights.
We began investigating the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions over concerns about the treatment of some disabled benefits claimants. We are looking at whether the Department for Work and Pensions failed to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people with learning disabilities or long-term mental health conditions during health assessment determinations. We are also assessing whether the Secretary of State failed to comply with PSED obligations. The investigation and assessment are ongoing.
We served Pontins with an unlawful act notice after finding multiple instances of race discrimination against Irish travellers during an investigation, including the creation of a list of common Irish surnames labelled as ‘undesirable guests’. Following our investigation, Pontins issued a formal apology and is now implementing an action plan to address its discriminatory policies.
We signed a legal agreement with IKEA UK to improve its policies and practices in relation to sexual harassment. IKEA UK has committed to reviewing the way it deals with sexual harassment and meeting its responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010.
We also signed a legal agreement with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) after concerns over a workplace culture which did not adequately protect staff from discrimination and harassment. The agreement sets out what the WRU must do to improve its workplace policies, practices and culture to protect its employees from discrimination and harassment, including sexual harassment.
Over the last three years, we have also been involved in many legal cases. These include our support for the case of Kerry-Ann Knight, a former Corporal who fronted British Army recruitment campaigns and received an apology and a substantial financial settlement from the Ministry of Defence, after allegedly being subjected to racist and sexist abuse.
We supported Pa Edrissa Manjang’s case, an Uber Eats driver who received a financial settlement following allegations that facial recognition checks required to access his work app were racially discriminatory.
We also intervened in the University of Bristol v Abrahart case to assist the court in determining how universities should approach their duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled students. Following the judgment, we published an advice note setting out what higher education providers must do to protect disabled students. | | | Read more about our legal powers | |
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Engaging with the international human rights system | | During this strategic plan period, we published a comprehensive review of government responses to UN human rights recommendations on our Human Rights Tracker, spanning a range of human rights issues from education to voting. Our Tracker is a unique online tool which allows everyone to monitor the status of key human rights issues in the UK by providing important information on how well the UK and Welsh governments have put their international human rights obligations into practice.
Over the last three years we have also published multiple reports for the United Nations (UN) providing important updates on human rights issues in the UK. We highlight where there have been improvements and where there are concerns. We also set out what the UK and Welsh governments should do to fulfil their human rights obligations.
During this strategic plan period, we have:
| | | Read more about our human rights work | |
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