§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps have been taken to prepare for commencement of the Race Relations (Amendment) 31W Act 2000; and what public bodies he has consulted concerning future application of a general duty to promote race equality. [150613]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienA commencement order has been made for the provisions of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act to come into force on 2 April 2001. There is one exception to this. To enable the immigration provisions to work effectively from 2 April 2001, the order provides for section 1 of the Act to come into force on 26 March 2001 (for the purposes of the imposition of requirements or giving of express authorisations (as defined) by a Minister of the Crown).
A public consultation paper was issued on 22 February 2001 setting out the Government's proposals for extending the list of public bodies in the Act that are subject to the general duty to promote and the specific duties to promote race equality that might apply. The paper has been circulated widely among the public bodies that are likely to be affected by the new duty and to other interested parties for comments by 15 May 2001. A copy has been placed in the Library. The paper is also available on the Home Office website at: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/ raceact/welcome.htm.