Equality Bill

My Lords, Amendment 114ZA, tabled by the noble Baronesses, Lady Warsi and Lady Morris of Bolton, would exclude from the equality duty public authorities with fewer than 250 employees, or organisations discharging public functions but not listed in Schedule 19 that have fewer than 250 employees. Despite the progress that we have made, inequality persists in our society. The equality duty is an innovative approach to tackling discrimination. It requires public authorities to show leadership in proactively rooting out entrenched systems of discrimination and in promoting equality of opportunity. The roles of the public sector and of the bodies that provide public services are central to our equality goals, as public services are used by all, with many of the most vulnerable citizens dependent on them. The noble Earl, Lord Erroll, probably wished to speak to Amendment 115B, which concerns procurement. The noble Baroness, Lady Morris, asked about the impact on SMEs and what further research had been done. I do not know, but I will come back to her in writing. The equality duty requires public bodies and other organisations which provide public services to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, to advance equality of opportunity and to foster good relations. It is difficult to understand why the size of an organisation should matter in considering the need to eliminate discrimination and promote equality. I think I am at one with the most reverend Primate on this. A number of small organisations provide services that could impact the lives of many in the community. For instance, at times, some of the health service bodies will have fewer than 50 employees but the service that they provide could have an impact on hundreds of people in the area. The same could be said for many schools. I understand that in the current fiscal climate some people think that compliance with the new integrated equality duty could lead to extra administrative burdens and bureaucracy. I do not think that is the case because, as the noble Lord, Lord Lester, informed us, at the moment we have three different duties, each with different requirements and reporting timescales. Bringing them together into one duty should decrease bureaucracy, and our emphasis on specific duties on proportionality—outcomes rather than processes—should lead to less form-filling and increased results. The exclusion of public authorities, listed in Schedule 19, which have fewer than 250 staff, or of private organisations that are discharging public functions but have fewer than 250 staff, would seriously limit the coverage of the equality duty. For instance, the amendment would exclude around 70 per cent of all central and local government bodies from the equality duty and that is plainly wrong. I accept that the amendment is probing but, should it be passed, it would seriously damage the good progress made by the current duties, as it would exempt from the new duty hundreds of public bodies which are subject to the current duties, and would result in serious regression. The noble Baroness, Lady Morris, asked whether the charity foundation document or the equality duty would take precedence where a public body contracts out some of its functions to a charity. The charity would have to comply with its foundation document but, in performing public functions, it would also need to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and promote equality in accordance with the duty, so it would have to look at both things. The noble Baroness asked whether the equality duty would apply to a single person performing a public function. Yes, it is important to remember that public functions are vital services which impact on the well-being of the public and, therefore, it is irrelevant whether it is delivered by a large organisation or a single person—a GP or a Secretary of State. She asked whether, if a public function were outsourced to a religious organisation, the exemption in paragraph 3 of Schedule 9 would still apply. Yes, it would. The equality duty operates alongside provisions prohibiting discrimination in the rest of the Bill. I can answer the question which the noble Baroness asked about whether small authorities were consulted on the extension of the new duty to new strands. Yes, in June 2007, we launched a three-month public consultation on the proposal to extend the equality duty. Around 4,000 organisations and individuals responded, including small organisations and representatives of small organisations, such as schools and health service providers. I ask the noble Baroness to withdraw her amendment.