Written - Equality Bill

The Equality Bill is now in the House of Lords following its passage through the House of Commons. The UK Government amendment to part one of the Bill in respect of the socio-economic duty is welcomed. The amendment means that, subject to the Bill receiving Royal Assent, Welsh Ministers will not need the consent of a Minister of the Crown in advance of the duty being applied on strategic public authorities in Wales. Welsh Ministers will now consult with a Minister of the Crown prior to applying the duty in Wales.

The listening exercise undertaken to help frame specific public sector equality duties in Wales that began on 27 July 2009 ended on 16 November 2009. Views on what will make a real difference to the people of Wales were sought and as part of the engagement process, a number of events run by a variety of organisations were attended.

More than 200 groups covering the equality strands received the listening exercise document and Welsh Assembly Government officials attended a series of organised workshops, forums and other events to raise awareness and discuss the development and opportunities that could result from these new duties. These events included:

• A series of three focused forums commissioned by the Welsh Assembly Government to capture the opinions of senior representatives and equality practitioners drawn from the public, academic and Third Sectors;
• A series of discussion groups organised by Women Making a Difference capturing the thoughts from women working and living in some of our most disadvantaged communities;
• Government Equalities Office sponsored event in Cardiff on 1 September 2009 attended by more than 80 equality practitioners to discuss the new duties as well as the age discrimination elements of the Bill;
• A series of network meetings organised by the Welsh Local Government Association including a meeting of elected councillors with responsibility for equality, Local Government HR directors and the WLGA’s joint committee:
• Disability Wales’ Right to Control event in Wrexham attended by more than 50 representatives of disability groups and organisations;
• Wales Council for Voluntary Action Equality Forum;
• Learning Disability Wales events in Cardiff and Llandudno;
• Information was provided during the consultation events with Gypsy Traveller communities;
• A series of discussion groups organised by AWEMA.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission in Wales has also hosted a series of nine voluntary sector focus groups. These included groups representing age, disability, gender, race, religion and belief, sexual orientation and gender reassignment. A series of events with public sector employers to stimulate debate about the listening exercise were also held. The views and opinions expressed during the exercise are welcomed and will be published shortly.  These include:

• Recognition of the need to rebalance equality schemes to equality objectives. Schemes need to be retained to maintain transparency and should be linked to corporate and business planning processes.
• Equality Impact Assessments should be retained as they offer a systematic approach to consider the impact of policies and practices, but they need to be simplified and concentrate on outcomes.
• The positive attitudes towards the involvement of people within the current specific duty for disability should be maintained and where appropriate, expanded to include all equality strands.
• Collection of data should be required across all equality strands to improve the evidence base, but collection should be appropriate and proportionate for different types and sizes of public authorities.
• Consideration should be given to developing a robust public sector duty which would require public authorities to address the gender pay gap and its causes.
• Public procurement is a valuable lever for change and should be included in the specific duties in Wales.
• Inspectorates in Wales have a valuable role to play in the advancement of equality both as an employer and as regulators/inspectors. Careful consideration should be given to their role in this new duty.

Policy proposals will be drafted and published for public consultation in the late Spring 2010. After consultation, regulations will be drawn up and presented to the National Assembly for Wales early in 2011. Subject to the view of the Assembly, it is expected that the new specific public sector equality duties will come into force in the Spring or Summer of 2011.