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News from the Equality and Human Rights Commission

Wednesday 5 November 2025

Welcome to your November update from the Equality and Human Rights Commission. In this edition, we share our actions to promote fairness, dignity and respect across England, Scotland and Wales.

Our work has continued to drive change: we have used our legal powers to secure improvements at IKEA UK following a sexual harassment complaint, and hosted an Equality Exchange event for uniformed services. We are continuing to strengthen protections and support inclusive public services. We have also advised governments on the definition of Islamophobia and hate crime law and engaged with European equality bodies to share best practice and build stronger networks. 

Read more about our work is driving change below. 

Highlights

IKEA UK takes action on workplace sexual harassment 

We have concluded a legal agreement with IKEA UK after the retailer took meaningful steps to improve how it prevents and responds to sexual harassment at work.  

The agreement followed a complaint from a former employee and focused on how IKEA UK handled the allegations.  

Over the past two and a half years, we’ve monitored the company’s delivery of an action plan under our Section 23 powers.  

As part of the agreement, IKEA UK:

• reviewed its approach to handling sexual harassment complaints, strengthening internal processes and oversight 

• rolled out enhanced training for HR teams and line managers to better identify, prevent and respond to harassment  

• reinforced a clear, organisation-wide message that sexual harassment will not be tolerated 

We are satisfied that IKEA UK has met the terms of the agreement and welcome its commitment to continuous improvement. This work also aligns with the news proactive duty on employers under the Worker Protection Act 2023.  

Recruitment – new Commissioners

The Minister for Women and Equalities is looking for four new Commissioners to join our board. 

Commissioners are responsible for agreeing our strategic direction, building relationships with ministers and key partners, and helping make a lasting difference to people’s lives. 

Driving change: Office of Rail and Road action on rail assistance failures

We’re pleased the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) now requires train companies to look at redress claims individually when booked passenger assistance hasn’t been provided.

Earlier this year, we responded to the ORR’s consultation and highlighted how failed assistance on rail journeys, complex complaints procedures and difficulties resolving issues can all make travel harder for older and disabled people. These barriers can stop people from travelling and taking part in everyday life. 

Making sure companies properly consider how a failure has affected an individual is an important step towards protecting people’s rights and ensuring equal access to transport. We believe this change to ORR’s guidance will encourage rail operators to better understand and address the barriers faced by older and disabled people and improve their service provision.

Advancing equality in Wales: Highlights from our latest report

We recently have published our annual Wales Impact Report. Our new report highlights the range and impact of our work in 2024-2025  and the different we have made in protecting rights and making Wales fairer.

Over the past year in Wales, we have:

• embedded equality and human rights standards into social care commissioning 

• promoted accessibility and inclusion in digital public services 

• strengthened guidance to political parties to help ensure our elected representatives reflect the diversity of our communities 

• taken enforcement action to protect employees from workplace discrimination and harassment 

Further details about this important work in our new report. 

Meetings and engagements

Alongside using our legal powers from the Equality Act 2010, we regularly engage across government and civil society to protect and promote equality and human rights for everyone in Britain. 

Equality Exchange for the uniformed services 

A major programme in our 2025-28 strategic plan is tackling race- and sex-based discrimination in the uniformed services (police, fire and rescue, and Armed Forces). In late October, we held an Equality Exchange event for the uniformed services; our first-ever, fully in-person event for this programme. As an important first step towards change, we created a space for service representatives to exchange best practice and learn about developments such as our equality data guidance.

Sharing equalities knowledge in Europe

Our Deputy Chief Executive, Penny Hobman, attended Equinet’s Annual General Meeting in Brussels, with senior representatives from other Equality Bodies in Europe to share success stories and influence the future priorities of network. 

Advising Parliament and governments

Official definition of Islamophobia: our advice 

We have published our advice to the working group commissioned by the UK government to develop a definition of anti-Muslim hatred/Islamophobia.

Our advice highlights existing legal protections against discrimination and hate crime, and that a new non-statutory definition risks confusion and a lack of clarity, which would not help address discrimination and abuse targeted at Muslims.

We recommend that if the government proceeds with the adoption of a definition, it should be subject to a full public consultation.  

Scottish Government consultation on support for part-time study and disabled students: our response

We have responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation on financial support for part time and disabled students in further and higher education. Our submission stresses the importance of making equality a core part of how student support is designed and delivered.

We recommend that the Scottish Government should:

• review how equality duties are being met in current support structures  

• clearly set out how the impact of future changes will be assessed 

• consider expanding access to living cost support and bursaries for part-time students 

• address barriers faced by disabled students, including delays in support and accessibility issues 

These steps are vital to ensuring financial support systems meet the needs of all students and comply with equality law.  

Scottish Government consultation on adding 'sex' as a protected characteristic to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021: our response

We have responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation on adding sex as a characteristic to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021. Our response supports this change as a necessary step to ensure women and girls are equally protected under hate crime law.

In our response, we outlined that this proposal aligns with the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty. We support the requirement to record whether the targeted sex is male or female, to monitor impact and inform understanding and addressing hate.

We have urged the Scottish Government to consider how this change interacts with sexual violence and domestic abuse laws, and explore mitigations such as clear sentencing guidance.  

Advising Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) on assisted dying legislation

Ahead of stage 2 of the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, we have shared a briefing with MSPs outlining key equality and human rights considerations.  

We have not taken a position for or against assisted dying. Instead, our briefing highlights areas where the Bill could be strengthened to better protect people with protected characteristics.

Key points include:

• the need for clearer safeguards around mental capacity, coercion and disability 

• support for raising the minimum age to 18  

• a call for statutory guidance and access to independent advocacy 

• the importance of reviewing palliative and social care provision before implementation  

• clarifying redetermination processes and ensuring individuals are aware of their rights

We have also recommended further scrutiny of the conscientious objection clause to ensure it aligns with equality law.  

Guidance and advice

Council case studies shared on PSED-compliant artificial intelligence

We have shared case studies demonstrating how local authorities across England are implementing artificial intelligence technologies while meeting their Public Sector Equality Duty obligations.

These practical examples showcase innovative approaches to responsible AI deployment in public services, from Camden Council's co-created Data Charter developed with residents' panels, to Maidstone's predictive analytics for homelessness prevention.  

These case studies demonstrate ways to harness AI while preventing discrimination, such as maintaining alternative service channels, engaging diverse user groups in testing and building transparency into AI decision-making processes.  

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