Equality Bill

Much has been made of the need for further research and evidence. The Minister referred to the lack of time for developing an appropriate and workable definition of caste. Could she tell the House when the Government first became aware that this would be an issue in the Bill? When did the process of consultation, evidence gathering and research therefore start? Was there sufficient time from that initial moment to develop an appropriate definition of caste? What concerns me is that the Bill has been a long time coming but we are now, at this stage, being told that we do not have enough time to discuss what is an important issue.