§ Lord Ouseleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
When they expect the proposed Equality Commission to become operational; and whether there will be an accompanying single Equality Bill. [HL3866]
110WA
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville)The Government will make an announcement in due course in response to the consultation on the future of Great Britain's equality institutions launched last October (Commons Hansard: 22 October 2002; col. 246W), which looked at the possibility of creating a single equality body among other options. As the consultation document made clear, no new body would be established before 2006.
The Government are taking forward a significant legislative agenda on equality matters. This includes introducing protection against discrimination in employment and vocational training on the grounds of sexual orientation, religion and belief and age to implement the EU Employment and Race Directives. We are also strengthening and widening existing disability legislation, providing rights of recognition for trans-gendered people and looking at how same-sex partnerships might be recognised. These are far-reaching changes which will need time to bed down once they are introduced. We do not believe that a single equality Bill is the most appropriate way forward.