Equality Bill

Both noble Baronesses are right to make the points that they do. I also agree with the noble Lord, Lord Lester, that the primary task of political parties at the moment must be to ensure that there is no direct or indirect discrimination in their selection processes. Let me answer a couple more questions. I was asked about ensuring the anonymity of data. Any data provided voluntarily would be aggregated nationally and there would be a requirement for data to be reported in such a way that individuals cannot be identified. On whether political parties will be breaching the Data Protection Act by publishing diversity data, the answer is no. While the data in question amount to sensitive personal data under the Data Protection Act, it is envisaged that parties will obtain explicit consent from candidates for the data to be collected and published in an anonymised form. The Data Protection Act already places that obligation on the party collecting data. I am sensitive to the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, and I can imagine some local parties finding it difficult to provide the information. I am not sure what is envisaged, but we will come back to that at a later stage in our proceedings. Northern Ireland is not governed by this provision, because equality is a devolved matter under the Northern Ireland Act. I was asked why we are not requiring parties to collect data on marital status and pregnancy. The exclusion of marriage and civil partnership is consistent with the fact that they are protected characteristics in respect of the employment provisions in the Bill only; the rationale for the exclusion of pregnancy and maternity is the relatively temporary nature of such characteristics. As I say, I shall take back my amendments but bring them forward in some shape or form at the next stage of the Bill, having taken into consideration some of the points made in this debate.