Frequently asked questions
Aims and objectives
Governance
Scope
How the review fits with current and future equality legislation
How you can contribute
What is the Equalities Review?
The Government has set up the independent Review to look at the long term
and underlying causes of inequality, disadvantage and persistent
discrimination in society. Its analysis will ensure a firm basis for the
future development of policies and programmes that promote equality of
opportunity and overcome disadvantage. The Review will report its
recommendations to the Prime Minister in early 2007.
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What will the Review do?
The Equalities Review will:
-
provide an understanding of the underlying long-term causes of
disadvantage that need to be addressed by public policy
-
make practical recommendations on key policy priorities for: the
Government and public sector; employers and trade unions; civic society
and the voluntary sector
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Inform both the modernisation of equality legislation, towards a Single
Equality Act; and the development of the new Commission for Equality and
Human Rights (CEHR)
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Who will conduct the Equalities Review?
The Prime Minister asked Trevor Phillips to chair the Review. Trevor is
joined on the Panel by
experts from the public and private sector social policy arenas. A wider reference group
of equality stakeholders and experts, co-chaired by Bert Massie, Chair
of the Disability Rights Commission and Julie Mellor, Chair of the Equal
Opportunities Commission will provide independent advice and input. A team
of civil servants drawn from departments across Whitehall will support the
Review.
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The Government and various public and private
organisations have done a lot of work over the years to tackle poverty and
discrimination. How will the Equalities Review add value?
A lot of analysis and action has already taken place. And, there has been
progress. But evidence suggests that, even though discrimination
legislation was first introduced 40 years ago, there are still social,
economic, cultural and other factors that can limit or even deny people the
chance to make the best use of their abilities and to contribute to society
fully. We need to know how these barriers work, so that we can reflect this
knowledge and act appropriately to promote equality. The Review will focus
on those areas where progress has been particularly slow or where trends
suggest that things are getting worse.
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How were the members of the Equality Review Panel
chosen?
The Prime Minister appointed Trevor Phillips to chair the Panel.
Officials from the Cabinet Office, the Department for Trade and Industry,
No.10 Downing Street and Trevor Phillips drew up a list of potential
candidates for other Panel members. A series of interviews was held with
candidates, and officials made recommendations to Ministers at the Cabinet
Office and DTI. Ministers made the final decision on appointments to the
Panel.
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Most of the Panel members are not diversity and
equality experts. What are their qualifications for being on the
Panel?
The Panel comprises senior representatives from the fields of business, the
public sector and social policy. Panel members were chosen to bring
strategic direction and purpose to the Review through their perspectives as
members of different sectors and not as representatives of particular
equality strands.
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How were the members of the Reference Group chosen?
What are their qualifications?
The Reference
Group's job is to offer advice and assistance to the Panel,
reacting to and suggesting ways forward as the Review develops. It
comprises representatives from specific bodies aimed at tackling
inequalities as well as employers, the public sector and trade unions. The
Reference Group is co-chaired by Jenny Watson from the Equal
Opportunities Commission [External website] and
Bert Massie from the Disability Rights
Commission [External website].
The members of the Reference Group were selected so that the views and
experiences of stakeholders and experts in the relevant equality and human
rights areas, business, trade unions and public services could be fed in to
both the Equalities Review and the
Discrimination Law Review.
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Will the Panel or Reference Group be paid for their
work on the Review?
No, none of the members of either body will receive any payment for their
work. They will however be able to claim reimbursement for expenses.
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Trevor Phillips is also the Chair of the Commission
for Racial Equality. Does this mean that the Equalities Review will have a
greater focus on ethnicity than on other aspects of diversity?
No, Trevor chairs the Equalities Review in his personal capacity, not as
Chair of the Commission for Racial
Equality [External website]. The Review will look
in-depth at each of the equality strands.
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Trevor is on record as being hostile to the idea
of a single equality body such as the CEHR. Is he really the best person to
head up this Review?
Trevor recognises that there are limits to what legislation and enforcement
can achieve in isolation. (For more information about the Commission for
Equality and Human Rights or CEHR, see the ‘What is the Equality
Bill?’ section) He shares the Government's view that equality of
opportunity requires a wider approach than just legislative reform and that
a wide range of policy levers are needed to tackle inequality effectively.
He is therefore very well placed to ensure that the Review is as
wide-ranging as possible.
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How can we expect Trevor and the Panel to know
what it is like to suffer from multiple inequalities in Britain
today?
The Review will be taking evidence from people who have suffered
disadvantage; it will also be working closely with colleagues on the
Reference Group that represent many thousands of people that have
experience of inequality. The Review will analyse existing research into
inequality and disadvantage and where necessary commission new analysis to
ensure that policy recommendations are informed by both real-life
experiences and a sound evidence base.
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The tax and benefit system will remain outside the
scope of the Review. How can the Review expect to have a serious impact on
tackling inequalities if it cannot touch the tax and benefit
system?
The Review will not focus on taxation or the benefit system, because these
are regularly reviewed by the Treasury as part of the Budget process.
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There is already legislation prohibiting
discrimination. Isn't that enough to tackle inequalities?
The first Race Relations Act was introduced in 1965. Since then governments
have legislated to protect people from discrimination on the basis of
gender, race and disability and, most recently, sexual orientation, age and
religion. Since 1997, new legislation has also created the duty to promote
race equality, the Human Rights Act and most recently the civil partnership
scheme for lesbian and gay couples. But despite this progress, there is
still evidence of deep-seated patterns of disadvantage. For example,
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disabled people are still at far greater risk of poverty than
non-disabled people
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Bangladeshi and Pakistani men are three times more likely to be
unemployed than white men
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the educational attainment of Black Caribbean boys consistently falls
below that of their female and white peers
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the gap between men's and women's earnings has changed little in
the last five years.
If legislation was effective on its own in reducing discrimination, then we
would expect to see some impact as a result of each successive Act.
Instead, in many cases, the root causes of disadvantage seem to go beyond
discrimination and cannot therefore be corrected by anti-discrimination
legislation alone. Social, economic, cultural or other factors,
individually or in combination, could limit or deny individuals the
opportunity to make the best of their abilities and to contribute fully to
society. It will be the work of the Equalities Review to identify these
factors.
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What is the Equality Bill?
A. The
Equality Bill's [External website] main purpose is
to set up the new Commission
for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) [External
website] in the autumn of 2007. The CEHR was announced in the
Queen's Speech in November 2004. The enabling legislation, the Equality
Bill, is presently being considered by Parliament. The Bill will also
introduce wider discrimination on grounds of religion or belief in the
provision of goods, facilities and public functions and introduce a new
public sector duty to promote gender equality. For a
basic guide to the Equality Bill and the CEHR [External
website].
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Why do we need to change the existing legislation?
Can't we just add to it?
Each of the existing pieces of legislation offers slightly different levels
of protection, and imposes different requirements, depending on when it
became law. For this reason, it's been quite difficult for businesses
and public services to understand and to comply with the different
requirements in each of them. Also, these laws have not done enough to
remove inequality (see the ‘There is already legislation...?’ section).
But now the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has begun the
Discrimination Law Review (DLR) [External website].
Together with other government departments, the DTI is looking at how to
develop a simpler and fairer legal framework for anti-discrimination
legislation. The idea is to streamline existing legislation and to bring it
up to date, so that it is easier to understand and comply with. As a
result, the CEHR will be able to do its job more efficiently.
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How does the Equalities Review fit with the
Discrimination Law Review?
The research and other work being done by the Equalities Review will feed
into the work being done by the
Discrimination Law Review [External website]. It
will ensure that the Government knows where legislation will be most useful
in promoting equality and reducing discrimination, and where other forms of
action will be more effective. The Equalities Review also shares its Reference
Group with the Discrimination Law Review. The Equalities Review Team in
the Cabinet Office meets regularly with DTI colleagues working on the
Discrimination Law Review to ensure that these two streams of work
compliment one another.
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Will the Discrimination Law Review lead to a
Single Equality Act?
A simpler, fairer and more modern legislative framework could indeed result
in a Single Equality Bill. Such a Bill must be able to lead to outcomes
which are clearly better for affected groups. It must also reduce the
burden of compliance faced by business and public services by streamlining
and clarifying their duties and responsibilities.
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How will the Review conduct its work? Will there
be a public consultation? How can I contribute? How can I get in touch with
the Review?
The Review will conduct its work by reviewing existing research,
commissioning new research, visiting areas of specific interest and
listening to experts and stakeholders. It will publish an interim report
for public consultation in the winter.
If you feel that your special knowledge or experience would help the work
of the Review, you can contact the Equalities Review
Team. A formal Call for
Evidence was issued in October.
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