Single point of contact on equality

The Government confirmed in the Queen's Speech that the Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) will be in charge of existing legislation and will oversee new laws on age, religion and sexual orientation discrimination.

The body, which will not be fully operational until 2008/9, will replace the work of the Equal Opportunities Commission, Disability Rights Commission and Commission for Racial Equality (CRE).

Reacting to the news, John Cridland, deputy director general of the CBI, said: "Creating one point of contact for all discrimination issues makes good sense for businesses and individuals. It would simplify the process and save time."

However, Mr Cridland said he hoped that the CEHR would work closely with businesses. "It is vital that the new body is committed to building a partnership with business. It must not be overly adversarial," he said.

Sufficient resources?

The CBI said it was also concerned that the period of transition, where the CRE would be allowed to exist outside of the single body during its formative years, could lead to confusion. John Cridland commented: "A single equality body must mean one, sole body, otherwise employers will be confused about who they should turn to for advice."

Union leaders also welcomed the announcement, but had their own concerns about resources for the new body and the need to bring together the wide-ranging legislation currently in place to tackle discrimination.

General secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, Mark Serwotka, said: "We welcome the promise of effective enforcement powers for CEHR that this Bill will bring, but it needs sufficient resources and staffing if it is to be a success.

"The fear is that the creation of the CEHR without first harmonising the law on equality will prove to be a wasted opportunity."

Promoting equality

The Government said that an Equality Bill setting up the new commission would provide a single point of contact where individuals, businesses and other organisations could obtain information and guidance on anti-discrimination legislation.

It would also create a new duty for public bodies to promote gender equality, to ensure "they were doing all they could" to treat men and women fairly. Overall, the Bill would aim to strengthen laws on discrimination covering race, gender, disability, sexuality, religion and age.

Gordon Lishman, director general of Age Concern England, said: "The Equality Bill is a big-win for the thousands of older people who are forced to fight ageism every day.

"For the first time ever, older people's rights will be recognised and we have a real chance of defeating discrimination. Age Concern has long been campaigning for a body with the power to champion older people's rights.

"The Government must now get the equality champion up and running by 2006 and extend the public duty to promote equality to include age equality."