My Lords, I am very pleased to participate in this Second Reading debate and to be part of my noble friend’s Bill team. We will try to do something useful with what is a pretty terrible Bill. Having worked on the Public Bodies Bill and the health Bill, there is quite a lot of competition for that prize with this Government. As other noble Lords said, the Bill is incoherent. It provides no compelling vision, no consistent message and no connected approach across government to drive growth. That is a shame.
I will concentrate on Clauses 56, 57 and 58, which are no less than a systematic undermining of the UK’s entire equalities infrastructure for what appears to be no reason other than dogma and political spite, which I hope at least the junior partners in the coalition will not support. The clauses relating to the Equality and Human Rights Commission—as even Vince Cable admitted—have no significant impact on business growth. The Government’s own impact assessment states that either they will have a negative impact or they will add nothing to the main purpose of the Bill. So why are they here? There is no tangible, quantifiable, empirical evidence linking the measures put forward in Clauses 56, 57 and 58 to business growth.
Clause 56 covers changes to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s statutory powers and duties. I beg to differ from what I thought was the rather complacent view of the noble Lord, Lord Lester, about the dangers that face this body. The Bill seeks to amend Part 1 of the Equality Act 2006, which sets out the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s statutory powers and duties. It repeals Section 3, which sets out the general duty of the commission. It repeals Section 10, which imposes a duty on the commission to promote good relations between members of different groups. It repeals Section 19, which gives the commission powers in association with Section 10. It repeals Section 27, which enables the commission to make arrangements for the provision of conciliation in certain non-employment related disputes, and it amends Section 12, which requires the commission to monitor and report every three years on its progress. It reduces from three to five years the frequency with which the commission is required to publish a report on its progress.
These legislative changes should not be considered in isolation. In addition to the proposal to amend the legislative basis of the EHRC, the Government are undertaking a range of actions that seriously threaten the commission’s independence and effectiveness. By 2014-15, the EHRC will have had its budget cut by
62%. It will have lost 72% of its staff compared to when it was established in 2007. These are disproportionate cuts. They will make the EHRC about the same size as the former Disability Rights Commission—just one of the three equality commissions that it replaced.
In addition, the new framework document between the EHRC and the Home Office pays little heed to Part 4 of the Equality Act 2006, which states:
“The Minister shall have regard to the desirability of ensuring that the Commission is under as few constraints as reasonably possible in determining … its activities … its timetables, and … its priorities”.
This has drawn concern from the chair of the ICC, who stated that the new framework document significantly limits the EHRC’s freedom,
“to determine priorities without undue influence by the Government”.
The EHRC works to reduce inequality, eliminate discrimination and strengthen good relations between people. Undertaking these functions effectively requires proper funding of the EHRC, and the retention of its full legal remit and independence. I do not say that the EHRC needs to be funded—in case the Minister is under any illusions—as it currently is. Of course it has to play its part, as do all other government departments. However, the figures that I cited—