§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the next steps are in implementing the equal treatment Directives 2000/43/EC and 2000/78/EC adopted in 2000 under Article 13 of the EC Treaty; and what progress has been made in taking246W forward the Government's review of the long-term arrangements for offering advice, support and guidance on equality matters announced on 15 May. [76735]
§ Ms HewittMy hon. Friend the Minister for Women in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, has today published a summary of our plans to change existing equality legislation and to introduce new legislation to take forward implementation of the Employment and Race Directives—Equality and Diversity: The Way Ahead. We intend to make equality legislation as coherent and easy to use as possible. We have produced draft regulations to achieve these changes and are asking for comments on our proposals.
This work builds on our current arrangements for tackling discrimination, and has been shaped by extensive consultation over the last two years. The key features will be:
new legislation prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of religion and belief and sexual orientation in the areas of employment and vocational training; andimportant changes to the Race Relations Act 1976 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.We intend to have new provisions on race, religion and belief and sexual orientation in place in 2003, and on disability in 2004. We also intend to make some modifications to the Equal Pay Act in 2003, following consultation in Towards Equal Pay for Women. We will consult separately on proposals for legislation to prohibit discrimination on grounds of age, as well as the new Equal Treatment Amendment Directive.
In addition, we are committed to getting the right framework to support equality legislation. We are. therefore, also publishing today a separate consultation paper—Equality and Diversity: Making it Happen. This considers the contribution of equality institutions to making equal opportunities a reality and to promoting equality and diversity across society, and sets out a range of options for future structures for these institutions, including a single equality commission. It considers a range of related issues, including the implications for Scotland and Wales and the regional and local dimension.
We have arranged for copies of these documents and the draft legislation to be placed in the Libraries of the House.
§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made on Government action to help close the pay gap between men and women. [76736]
§ Ms HewittOn Thursday 17 October, I launched a consultation on the design of the equal pay questionnaire. The Employment Act 2002 provides a new power to introduce an equal pay questionnaire into the Equal Pay Act 1970. We are seeking views by 10 January 2003 on a draft questionnaire, with the aim of bringing it into effect, subject to Parliamentary approval, in April 2003. The questionnaire will help women who think they may not be receiving equal pay to request key information from their employers before deciding whether to bring a case. In some cases this could lead to resolving or settling a claim rather than taking the tribunal route.
247WThe questionnaire is one of a raft of changes we are introducing to speed up and simplify equal pay cases; and it forms part of the Government's drive to close the pay gap between men and women. Also published on the Women and Equality Unit's website is a briefing paper "Equal Pay and Pay Gap—Update on Government Action". This provides an update on Government action to narrow the pay gap and progress made following the Government's response to Denise Kingsmill's report on Women's Employment and Pay (December 2001).