Equality Bill

My Lords, this amendment, I am sorry to have to say, is regressive. It would exempt from Clause 148 any public authority with fewer than 250 employees. The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, made in the wake of the recommendations of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, introduced general statutory duties on scheduled public authorities which apply irrespective of the number of employees within its workforce. That is in respect of race. So did the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, supported by the Conservative Party. The Equality Act 2006 introduced similar public sector duties as regards sex discrimination which apply irrespective of the size of the public authority. The fair employment amendment Act of 1989, introduced by the Thatcher Administration to combat religious discrimination in the workplace, contained no such exception for public authorities with fewer than 250 employees. That is why the amendment is regressive. It is going back on the whole of that—race, religion, with regard to Northern Ireland here, with regard to gender, with regard to disability. We know of no evidence to support the amendment, nor do we understand why Her Majesty’s Official Opposition should seek to weaken the scope of the public sector duty and the protection it gives to vulnerable minorities, including women, ethnic minorities, disabled people, religious minorities, gays and lesbians and the elderly, and we are opposed to it.