Updates

Single Equality Bill Update:

On the 15th December, the Second Reading of the Single Equality Bill was conducted in the House of Lords. The debate was around the general points of the Bill and what concerns members of the House had about it. The debate was particularly long going from the mid afternoon to nearly 11.00 in the evening.

The leader of the Government in the House of Lords, Baroness Royall, introduced the Bill and sought to counter some of the myths that have arisen over the course of the Bill's development. Several concerns were raised across the House about the length of time given to the Bill in the Commons and seeking reassurances that there will be proper time for scrutiny in the Lords.

General issues raised by the opposition parties concerning the content of the Bill covered the following areas:
* Socio-economic duty
* Gender Pay Audits
* Positive Action
* Exemptions for religious organisations
* Religion as a protected characteristic
* Public Sector Equality Duty
* Definitions of harassment

41 amendments have already been tabled for the Bill. The Committee Stage will start on the 11th January on the floor of the House of Lords. This will involve a line by line consideration of the Bill and any amendments. Source: Race on the Agenda (ROTA)

EQUALITY BILL

The Bill aim is to modernise and strengthen current law to make it fit for the challenges that society faces today and in the future. The main elements of the Bill are:

• Reducing nine major pieces of legislation, and around 100 statutory instruments into a single Act, making the law more accessible and easier to understand, so that everyone can be clear on their rights and responsibilities.
• Banning age discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities or services and public functions. Things that benefit older people, such as free bus passes, will still be allowed.
• Increasing transparency in the workplace. If inequality remains hidden, we can’t measure it and make progress;
• Making Britain fairer through a single equality duty, which will require public bodies to consider the diverse needs and requirements of their workforce, and the communities they serve, when developing employment policies and when planning services;
• Extending positive action measures to allow employers to make their organisation or business more representative;
• Allowing political parties to use all-women shortlists beyond 2015.

BORDERS, CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION ACT 2009

This Act replaces all existing immigration legislation with a simplified, clear and coherent legal framework to control UK borders, manage migration and reform the path to citizenship.

The main elements of the Act :

• Support the concept of earned citizenship - setting out the eligibility requirements for UK citizenship;
• Support the establishment of the UK Border Agency;
• Replace ten separate pieces of immigration law, of which some of the earlier provisions have already been partially superseded by subsequent Acts, with a single Act of Parliament;
• provide for sharper and more consistent immigration rules, which can continue to be quickly adjusted in response to changing circumstances.

The main benefits of the earned citizenship provisions  - a single piece of legislation to underpin the UK Border Agency's operations - will mean more:

•     Transparency, clarity and predictability: for agency staff, applicants and sponsors, and the wider public;

•     Efficiency and more straightforward decision-making processes: with a system friendly to all its users, and quicker and easier to reach decisions;

•     Plain English, avoiding technical jargon wherever possible;

•     Public confidence in a comprehensible system. The Government has already consulted on the citizenship proposals for this bill in its consultation The path to citizenship: next steps in reforming the immigration system.

•     Establishing the new UK Border Agency as a shadow agency of the Home Office, to protect our borders, control migration, prevent border tax fraud, smuggling and immigration crime, and implement quick and fair decisions. Frontline staff will be given both immigration and customs powers and staff in England and Wales will be equipped with police-like powers.

This Act which was scheduled to come into effect in autumn 2008 is to allow people to apply for an order at specified County Courts, rather than just the High Courts, to prevent forced marriages. The new law will give courts discretion to treat each case sensitively and individually and will employ civil remedies that offer protection to victims without criminalising members of their family. It also provides recourse for those already forced into marriage.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE & IMMIGRATION ACT 2008

The Act makes further provision about criminal justice (including provision about the police) and dealing with offenders and defaulters; it includes provision for a new immigration status in certain cases involving criminality; to make provision about the automatic deportation of criminals under the UK Borders Act 2007.

The Government believes that any difference in treatment towards different nationalities would not be related to nationality but to criminality and that the difference in treatment would be proportionate and justified by the twin objectives of maintaining effective immigration control and protecting the public.

The Equality Act 2006 was enacted on the 16 February 2006. The Act makes provision for the establishment of a new Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) from October 2007, and to dissolve the Equality Opportunities Commission, the Commission for Racial Equality and the Disability Rights Commissions by April 2009.

The Act's main provisions are:

• establish the Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) and define its purpose and functions;
   

• make lawful discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief in the provision of goods, facilities and services, education, the use and disposal of premises, and the exercise of public functions;
   

• enable provision to be made for discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in the provision of goods, facilities and services, education, the use and disposal of premises and the exercise of public functions;
   

• create a duty on public authorities to promote equality of opportunity between women and men ('the gender duty'), and prohibit sex discrimination and harassment in the exercise of public functions.

This Act, which was enacted on 16 February 2006, makes provision about offences involving stirring up hatred against persons on racial or religious grounds. The Act amends part of the Public Order Act 1986 and the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.