|
News from Equality and Human Rights Commission
Wednesday 11 February |
|
|
Welcome to our February update. As the year gets underway, our teams have been working across England, Scotland and Wales to drive progress on some of the most pressing equality and human rights issues facing the Britain.
Recent work includes forming new partnerships with organisations representing the uniformed services sector, advising parliaments on the Public Sector Equality Duty and giving evidence in an artificial intelligence inquiry on equality implications and regulation.
We also bring you updates on our responses to fire and rescue service reform and share the details of the outcomes and impact from our enforcement action with Pontins.
Read on for the full round‑up of our activity and visit our website to learn more about our three year strategic plan. |
|
|
New memorandum of understanding with the NFCC | We are working closely with the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) to tackle discrimination and build inclusive workplaces across fire and rescue services.
We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the NFCC. This agreement is a key component of our Uniformed Services Programme, which aims to address race and sex-based discrimination, harassment and victimisation in fire, police and armed forces. | | Read about our Memorandum of Understanding |
|
|
Giving evidence on artificial intelligence regulation | Our Chair, Dr Stephenson, gave evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights as part of its inquiry into the regulation of artificial intelligence.
The session explored how regulators can protect people’s rights as AI becomes more embedded in daily life. We emphasised the importance of ensuring regulators have the resources and expertise needed to oversee AI effectively and highlighted the risks of poorly governed systems for marginalised groups. | | Watch the evidence session |
|
|
Leading the conversation on human rights and equality | Early in her tenure as EHRC Chair, Dr Stephenson spoke to the Press Association contributing to national debate on human rights and equality. She cautioned against the “demonisation of migrants” and discussed the importance of acquired gender following the Supreme Court ruling. | | Read the news articles here |
|
|
Meetings and engagements | Last week the Chair visited Wales for introductions to staff and stakeholders in Cardiff. The Chair met with Welsh Government and civil society organisations including Disability Wales, Welsh Council for Voluntary Action, the Bevan Foundation, Future Generations Commissioner and Older People’s Commissioner for Wales.
In January Dr Stephenson continued her introductory meetings with key equality and human rights stakeholders including the Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, Sarah Owen MP, and the Attorney General for England and Wales. We thank all stakeholders for their time and look forward to more conversations to discuss how to protect and advance equality and human rights across Britian.
Our teams across the Commission have been engaging on a wide range of topics outlined in our Business Plan to support our regulatory, policy and evidence work. This included meetings with UK and devolved governments, regulators, academic experts and civil society organisations. Discussions focused on Public Sector Equality Duty compliance, accessible transport, equality data and human rights monitoring. |
|
|
Advancing equality in policing | Our unformed services team spoke at a Public Policy Exchange’s Future of UK Policing event, highlighting how our Uniformed Services Programme tackles inequality across policing. They introduced our core work, including equality data guidance and the sexual harassment preventative duty, helping shape the discussion on meaningful reform. | | Read more about the event |
|
|
Legal and enforcement action |
|
|
Our five year enforcement action with Pontins concludes | We have now ended our enforcement action against Pontins after the company implemented the significant changes required to address race discrimination. These reforms include removing discriminatory booking practices, strengthening policies and training, and issuing a formal apology to the Gypsy and Traveller community. | | Read more about our enforcement action with Pontins |
|
|
Advising Parliament and Government |
|
|
Scottish PSED evidence session | Our Scotland team attended an evidence session with the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee at the Scottish Parliament. The session examined how the public sector equality duty (PSED) is operating in Scotland and where improvements can be made. | | Watch the evidence session |
|
|
Supporting inclusive workplaces in fire and rescue services | We responded to the National Fire Chief Council’s consultations on workplace adjustments and neurodiversity, recommending steps to help fire and rescue services better support disabled and neurodivergent staff. | | Read our letter summarising our consultation responses |
|
|
Strengthening equality in Wales’ fire and rescue services | We wrote to the Welsh Government Fire Services team to highlight key points from our consultation response on the draft National Framework for Fire and Rescue Services. Our response emphasised the need for stronger accountability, better equality data, and firm preventative action on workplace culture as it develops the new National Framework. | | Read our letter to Welsh Government |
|
|
Welsh Government statement on our work | Jane Hutt MS, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip has released a written statement highlighting our Wales Impact Report 2024–25 and recognising our leadership and the breadth of our work to advance equality and human rights across Wales, including progress on children’s rights, health and social care, digital services, and fostering good relations between communities. The statement also reaffirms its commitment to continued collaboration with the Commission to support a more equal Wales. | | Read the Welsh Government Statement |
|
|
Our impact on the Welsh Disabled People’s Rights Plan | We welcome the Welsh Government’s final Disabled People’s Rights Plan, which reflects several key changes we called for in our 2025 response. These include clearer accountability measures, stronger human rights framing, better data commitments, and a reinforced focus on co‑production with disabled people. The final plan also sets out a more transparent approach to consultation and a clearer delivery framework with measurable indicators. While more progress is needed, this marks an important step toward improving disabled people’s rights in Wales. | | Read more about our response to the draft plan in August 2025 |
|
|
Our 2025 to 2028 Strategic Plan | Read more about our strategic plan to safeguard and promote equality and human rights. |
|
|
