§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment has been made of the costs that will be incurred by businesses in dealing with the guidance of the Equality and Human Rights Commission; and what assessment has been made of the costs that will be incurred by businesses in complying with its codes of practice. [174703]
§ Ms HewittThe Government published the White Paper "Fairness for All: A New Commission for Equality and Human Rights" on Wednesday 12 May 2003. The White Paper sets out our proposals for a new body to meet the challenges we must overcome if we are to end discrimination and promote respect for human rights. The establishment of a single organisation to champion equality, diversity and human rights meets the strong call from the business community for a more joined-up approach to these issues.
An assessment of the costs to businesses due to the creation of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) has been made in the Partial Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA), which forms part of the White Paper. As the establishment of the CEHR imposes no new regulatory burden on business there will be no costs associated with complying with guidance or codes of practice issued by the CEHR, other than where 1564W properties in Great Britain are heated by (a) electricity, (b) solid fuel and (c) natural gas. [175857]
§ Mr. TimmsInformation on the fuels used to heat domestic properties in Great Britain is published by BRE in its Domestic Energy Fact File. The latest available data relate to 2001, and are shown in the table.
a business is currently in breach of existing legislation. Guidance and codes of practice issued by the CEHR will make businesses more aware of their legal responsibilities, thus reducing the risk of litigation.
Nevertheless, there may be small costs associated with reading and understanding initial guidance issued by the CEHR, estimated to be around £39 per business. However as this guidance is likely to cover all areas of discrimination and human rights legislation it should offer an overall saving in time and cost spent in reading guidance related to each individual area, as is currently the case.