REVIEW OF CAUSES OF DISCRIMINATION ANNOUNCED

25 Feb 2005 12:15 PM

Joint DTI and Cabinet Office Release

A root and branch review to investigate the causes of persistent discrimination and inequality in British society was announced by Equality Minister Jacqui Smith and Minister for the Cabinet Office David Miliband today.

The Equalities Review, which will be chaired by Trevor Phillips and report to the Prime Minister by the summer of 2006, will:

* investigate the social, economic, cultural and other factors that limit or deny people the opportunity to make the best of their abilities;

* provide an understanding of the long term and underlying causes of disadvantage that need to be addressed by public policy;

* make practical recommendations on key policy priorities for: the Government and public sector; employers and trade unions; civic society and the voluntary sector; and

* inform both the modernisation of equality legislation, towards a Single Equality Act; and the development of the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights.

Announcing the Review, Jacqui Smith, said:

"Discrimination simply has no place in our society.

"We can only tackle poverty, ensure access to the best public services and enable people to make the most of their talents, whatever their background, if we have equality of opportunity and fairness for all.

"We need to look to the future and question why deep-seated patterns of disadvantage remain so that we can improve opportunities and help the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights make a strong impact from the start."

David Miliband, joint Ministerial sponsor for the Review said:

"A dynamic economy relies on using the talents of all. We have made significant progress in improving opportunities for disadvantaged groups since the Labour Government introduced the first
groundbreaking anti-discrimination legislation in 1965. This Review will give us the strategic understanding we need in order to understand the barriers that still unjustly stop people achieving their potential."

Working in parallel to the Equalities Review, the Department of Trade and Industry will begin new work informed by the Equalities Review on the development of a simpler, fairer legal framework. Involving several government departments, the Discrimination Law Review will assess how our anti-discrimination legislation can be modernised to fit the needs of Britain in the 21st Century. This work will consider the approaches that are effective in eradicating remaining discrimination but avoid imposing unnecessary, bureaucratic burdens on business and public services.

The Equalities Review will take into account existing work to address the barriers faced by specific groups, such as the Government's Community Cohesion and Race Equality Strategy, Prime Minister's Strategy Unit's reports on the life chances of disabled people and Disability and Ethnic Minorities in the Labour Market and the current Women and Work Commission.

It will build on these findings to develop a better understanding of the long-term and underlying barriers to opportunity that face many individuals and groups in society, based on evidence of what works at home and abroad. It will improve the Government's ability to tackle issues such as hate crime, the pay gap between different groups and the disproportionate risk that some groups face of living in poverty or having a below average chance of educational success.

A wider reference group of equality stakeholders and experts, co-chaired by Bert Massie, Chair of the Disability Rights Commission and Julie Mellor, Chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission will provide independent advice and input.

Welcoming his role in the Review, Trevor Phillips said:

"I am delighted to be asked to Chair this vital Review in a personal capacity and I am confident that this will be an important contribution towards embedding equality in government policy and towards achieving greater equality in the UK.

"This exercise is not a parallel or separate process to the CEHR. As the Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality I welcome the Government's response to the CRE comments on the CEHR and recognise the changes and improvements that have been made to plans for the new Commission. The CRE intends to work wholeheartedly with our sister Commissions and new strands as we move towards a unified Commission that we can all support."

Notes to Editors

1. Trevor Phillips will be joined by a panel of experts from the public and private sector social policy arenas. The members of this panel are Sir Robert Kerslake, Carol Lake, Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas, DBE and Nick Pearce.

2. Sir Robert Kerslake has been Chief Executive of Sheffield City Council since 1997. Previous posts include as Director of Finance and then Chief Executive with the London Borough of Hounslow, at the Greater London Council and the Inner London Education Authority. Sir Robert plays an active role in several organisations benefiting the local community and the region, including as co-Chair of the Safer Sheffield Steering Group and Sheffield Partnership for Health and is a member of the South Yorkshire Partnership.

3. Carol Lake is a Managing Director and co-Head of Marketing & Communications - Europe, Middle East and Africa at JP Morgan. She is also deeply involved in the firm's diversity efforts and is senior sponsor of the firm's black networking group UJIMA. Before joining JPMorgan in 2000, Carol worked in marketing management positions at British Telecom, Cable & Wireless and McDonnel Douglas. She is an active member of the Almeida Theatre's Corporate Council.

4. Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas DBE was born and educated in New Zealand. She has taught law at Otago University, Southampton University and Kings College London and worked in private practice at firms including Wilde Sapte and Clifford Chance where she was Special Adviser to The Chairmen from 2002-03. Between 1986 and 2004, Judith was closely involved in the running of the City of London serving as a member of the Court of Common Council and Charing its Policy and Resources Committee from 1996-2003. She was Vice Chair of the London Development Agency until July 2004. Judith's current appointments include Provost of King's College Cambridge and Chairman of the Royal Opera House. She is an adviser on global diversity to Merrill Lynch.

5. Nick Pearce is the Director of the Institute of Public Policy Research. He was formerly a Special Adviser to David Blunkett at the Home Office (2001 - 2003) where he worked on migration, asylum and citizenship issues and at the Department for Education and Employment (1999-2001) where he worked on further and higher education, skills policy and asset based welfare. His current research interests include social cohesion in diverse societies and the theory and practice of social justice. Nick studied at the University of Manchester and Oxford University.

6. The Review Team will be supported by a Secretariat based in the Cabinet Office. Both this work and the Discrimination Law review will be jointly overseen by DTI and Cabinet Office Ministers. Both the Review Team and the Discrimination Law Review will consult a Reference Group drawn from key equality and human rights stakeholders and other experts.

7. The Government announced its intention to legislate to establish a new Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) in the Queen's speech in November. The new Commission which will bring together expertise from the current equality Commissions (the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Commission for Racial Equality and the Disability Rights Commission) and make provide support for the first time for the new equality areas of age, religion and belief and sexual orientation. The CEHR will also promote Human Rights and will have a flexible suite of powers to enforce legislation and promote equality in relation to all disadvantaged groups.

8. The Prime Minister has agreed the following full terms of reference for the Equalities Review:

The Government is committed to creating a society where everyone can achieve their full potential free from prejudice and discrimination.

But despite 40 years of legislation to protect people from discrimination, evidence suggests that there are still social, economic, cultural or other factors that individually or in combination may limit or deny individuals the opportunity to make the best of their abilities and to contribute to society fully.

In order to ensure a firm basis for the future development of policies and programmes that promote equality of opportunity and overcome disadvantage, we need a compelling understanding of these persistent factors.

The Equalities Review will:

1. Provide an understanding of the long term and underlying causes of disadvantage that need to be addressed by public policy.

2. Make practical recommendations on key policy priorities for: the Government and public sector; employers and trade unions; civic society and the voluntary sector.

3. Inform both the modernisation of equality legislation, towards a Single Equality Act; and the development of the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights.

The Review's recommendations will be based on an assessment of evidence of steps taken within the UK and abroad to improve significantly the life chances of disadvantaged groups.

The Review will build on the work already underway within and outside government to address disadvantage. The focus of the Review will not be on the tax and benefit system, which is regularly reviewed as part of the Budget process, but will complement work being set in train by the DTI to review current equality legislation.

The Review Panel will start work in March 2005 and report to the Prime Minister by Summer 2006. It will receive independent input from a wider reference group of stakeholders (equality experts, business, service providers, trade unions, and consumer representatives). Any specific proposals will make better use of existing resources and avoid placing unnecessary burdens on business and the delivery of front line services.

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