§ Peter BottomleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what views she has received from publicly funded equality bodies on(a) the Government's proposal for a single equality body and (b) the proposals in the document Fairness for All. [187154]
§ Ms HewittThe Government are currently assessing the response of the three public funded equality bodies and all the responses they have received in detail and will publicly respond in due course. Government will be assisted in this task by their independent advisory Task Force, which discussed the consultation responses on 7 September.
The consultation following the release of Fairness for All officially closed on 6 August. Over 450 responses were received from a wide variety of stakeholders, interested groups and individuals, including those from the publicly funded equality bodies—the Commission for Racial Equality, the Disability Rights Commission and the Equal Opportunities Commission.