Equality Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 215A: "Leave out Clause 82 and insert the following new Clause—"    ““PUBLIC AUTHORITIES: GENERAL STATUTORY DUTY (1)   A public authority shall in carrying out its functions have due regard to the need— (a)   to eliminate unlawful discrimination, and (b)   to promote equality of opportunity between men and women, persons of different sexual orientation, different ages, different marital status, different religion or belief, and those who are intending to undergo, are undergoing, or have undergone gender reassignment and those who are or have not. (2)   In subsection (1)— (a)   ““public authority”” includes any person who has functions of a public nature (subject to subsections (3) and (4)), (b)   ““functions”” means functions of a public nature, and (c)   the reference to unlawful discrimination shall be treated as including a reference to contravention of terms of contracts having effect in accordance with an equality clause within the meaning of section 1 of the Equal Pay Act 1970 (c. 41). (3)   The duty in subsection (1) shall not apply to— (a)   the House of Commons, (b)   the House of Lords, (c)   the Scottish Parliament, (d)   the General Synod of the Church of England, (e)   the Security Service, (f)   the Secret Intelligence Service, (g)   the Government Communications Headquarters, (h)   a part of the armed forces of the Crown which is, in accordance with a requirement of the Secretary of State, assisting the Government Communications Headquarters, or (i)   a person specified for the purpose of this paragraph by order of the Secretary of State (and a person may be specified generally or only in respect of specified functions). (4)   The duty in subsection (1) shall not apply to the exercise of— (a)   a function in connection with proceedings in the House of Commons or the House of Lords, (b)   a function in connection with proceedings in the Scottish Parliament (other than a function of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body), (c)   a judicial function (whether in connection with a court or a tribunal), (d)   a function exercised on behalf of or on the instructions of a person exercising a judicial function (whether in connection with a court or a tribunal), or (e)   a function specified for the purpose of this paragraph by order of the Secretary of State. (5)   Subsection (1)(b) is without prejudice to the effect of any exception to or limitation of the law about unlawful discrimination. (6)   A failure in respect of performance of the duty under subsection (1) does not confer a cause of action at private law. (7)   An order under subsection (3)(i) or 4(e) may not be made unless the Secretary of State has consulted the Commission. (8)   This section binds the Crown.”” The noble Baroness said: in moving this amendment, I will also speak to Amendments Nos.   215B, 215D and 217. These amendments are intended to widen the duty on public bodies to promote gender equality so that they cover all other strands that are not protected by current legislation. I hope that this will stop the commission being a regulator of discrimination in public services for some equality areas, but not age, sexual orientation or religion and belief. It seems at the moment, particularly to the Equality and Diversity Forum, that we are not seeing the levelling up of equality law that we all want to see and I am sure that the Minister also wants to see. We want all individuals, no matter what their characteristics might be through which they face discrimination, to receive equal protection. This type of general equality duty already exists in relation to the devolved administrations. People in England continue to miss out on this protection, which really should be remedied. A positive duty to promote equality across all areas of discrimination would require organisations in the public sector to have due regard for equality in all aspects of their work. In Northern Ireland, where public bodies already have a positive duty, evidence gathered by Help the Aged in Northern Ireland shows that, as a result, older people for example are more likely to be involved in dialogue and are reaping benefits from the efforts made by public bodies to promote age equality. I am looking for clear assurances from the Government that they are committed to legislating to level the playing field by creating a general duty on public authorities to promote equality across all strands. I beg to move.