Briefing for Commissioners Learning Exchange

Briefing for Commissioners Meeting

Equality and Human Rights Commission - Dr Nicola Brewer

About the EHRC

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) established under the Equality Act 2006.

The new Commission was launched on 1 October 2007, and brings together the work of the three previous equality commissions - the Commission for Racial Equality, the Disability Rights Commission and the Equal Opportunities Commission. The EHRC also takes on responsibility for the other aspects of equality: age, sexual orientation and religion or belief, as well as human rights. The Equality and Human Rights Commission also has a mandate to promote understanding of the Human Rights Act.

The Board of Commissioners, led by Chair, Trevor Phillips, is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The EHRC first full year business plan has been published and is available at:

http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/aboutus/mission/pages/businessplan0809.aspx

The plan sets out the Commission's aims and strategic priorities for its first full year of operation, with a focus on working with others to narrow equality gaps, breaking down barriers between communities and tackling the root causes of prejudice and intolerance.

EHRC Strategic Priorities

To analyse, define and target key equality and human rights challenges;
To change policy and organisational practice to provide better public services alongside an efficient and dynamic economy;
To engage, involve and empower the public, especially people from disadvantaged communities and areas;
To anticipate social change, develop new narratives, and reach new audiences in ways that strengthen equality and human rights.

EHRC 2008 Goals

Chief Executive and Commissioner Nicola Brewer, supported by the senior management team, is accountable to the Board of Commissioners for making sure that the Commission achieves its business aims and for advising on emerging strategic priorities. The EHRC goals for 2008 are:

Lobbying for landmark legislation to promote equality and human rights, including a new Equality Act.
Using investigative powers to launch a major inquiry into how well the Human Rights Act is currently working.
Commissioning research on the way social housing is allocated and on the associated community tensions that relate to social housing policy.
Putting the digital strategy into practice, drawing on the experience of interactive and social networking sites such as YouTube to encourage new audiences to get involved with our work.
Using enforcement powers strategically, particularly for the public sector equality duties and in the `new' areas of our remit — age, religion or belief, sexual orientation and human rights.
Working with business and the private sector to promote fairness in the workplace, including providing high quality information, advice and guidance tailored to individual business needs.
Providing clear and comprehensive information on equality and human rights and about the work we do for a range of audiences.
Looking at how to most effectively use the existing public sector duties to promote equality (which apply to most public authorities) as well as our legal and enforcement powers.

EHRC - work on violence against women and gender duty

The EHRC has called on the Government and local authorities to provide more support for the 3 million women in the UK who experience violence every year. In addition, there are also untold numbers who have experienced abuse in the past and urgently need support. Trevor Phillips said:

Today there is an undeclared war against women in this country. This is no exaggeration.

Each year some three million women face will experience violence in one form or another. Rape, or the threat of it; assault, often at the hands of someone they know; intimidation through stalking; sexual abuse, either by a member of their own family or someone they know, much of it routine and known to others in the family; genital mutilation; and forced marriage.

We are putting every public authority on notice. The Equality and Human Rights Commission intends to make the treatment of violence against women the first acid test of their fulfilment of their duties under the Act.

We expect everyone to sit up, pay attention and to provide adequate services; and I am saying this well ahead of their budget setting process, so there can be no excuses about lack of resources. If you don't provide, what you actually mean is that it doesn't matter enough to you. If so, fine, but we think that at least half the electorate needs to know that you really don't care. And we intend to tell them.

In twelve months' time we will ask public authorities where they stand. If they don't measure up, they can expect to be named publicly. If they don't act, they will see us at their doors with compliance notices. And if they still can't be bothered, they need to put their expensive lawyers on retainer today.

Grants and awards

Section 17 of the Equality Act 2006 allows the Equality and Human Rights Commission to give financial assistance to organisations concerned with promoting equality and diversity, good relations and human rights. The Commission has now announced its awards for the 2008/2009 programme. Funding has been awarded for three priority areas: promoting good relations, promoting equality and human rights, and supporting the development of legal casework.

A cursory review of the names of organisations that were funded - which are listed at http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/aboutus/grants/Pages/successfulgrantapplicants20082009.aspx - indicates that only 6% (16 of 286) were awarded to women's organisations. There has not been an analysis published of the gender breakdown of the grant programme allocation.

WNC and EHRC

One of the recommendations from the WNC Review is:

That by October 2009 the WNC would have established a working relationship with the EHRC.

Joyce Gould wrote to Trevor Phillips in December 2007, suggesting this could be progressed, sooner rather than later, with a Memorandum of Understanding and also raising questions about EHRC interest in CEDAW. Trevor's response suggested that any areas of overlap between the two Commissions should be managed through effective co-ordination. Following this up, Joyce and Daniel met with Bradley Brady, Director for Stakeholder Management in March, to discuss how we could work together. It was clear from the discussion, that the Commission still has a long way to go before they would be fully functioning. Many of the staff posts remained unfilled and many systems needed to be put in place. Nonetheless, it was useful discussion to explain to each other how we work and what our aims are. We agreed that EHRC would carry out a wider human rights check of the Shadow CEDAW Report, and also agreed for Nicola to attend this June Board meeting.

Eleri Butler

June 2008

APPENDIX

EHRC statutory duties

The Commission's statutory duties, set out in the Equality Act 2006, are to:

Promote understanding of the importance of equality and diversity.
Encourage good practice in relation to equality and diversity.
Promote equality of opportunity.
Promote awareness and understanding of rights under the equality enactments.
Enforce the equality enactments.
Work towards the elimination of unlawful discrimination.
Work towards the elimination of unlawful harassment.
Encourage good practice in relation to human rights.
Promote awareness, understanding and protection of human rights.
Encourage public authorities to comply with section6 of the Human Rights Act 1998.
Promote good relations among and between groups and others, where `groups' include a group or class of persons who share a common attribute in respect of any of the protected grounds.
Monitor the effectiveness of laws relating to equality and human rights and monitor and report progress towards identified desired outcomes.

Legal policy: law and policy monitoring, advice and guidance

The Commission's statutory powers under the Equality Act 2006 include the following powers relevant to its legal work.

To advise Government about the effectiveness of any of the equality and human rights enactments and to recommend amendment, repeal, consolidation etc of any of the equality and human rights enactments.

To advise central or devolved Government about the effect of an enactment and the likely effect of a proposed change of law.
To issue or revise a code of practice in connection with a matter addressed in the equality enactments.
To give advice or guidance (about the effect or operation of an enact mentor otherwise).
To publish or otherwise disseminate ideas or information.
To undertake research.
To cooperate with persons interested in human rights within the UK or elsewhere.
To make, cooperate with or assist in arrangements for monitoring crime affecting certain groups.

Enforcement

Actions by the Commission in its own name:

To conduct an inquiry into any matter related to equality and diversity, human rights or good relations between protected groups and report on its findings.
To conduct an investigation where it suspects that the person has committed an act that is unlawful under one of the equality enactments, and to serve an unlawful act notice.
To enter into an enforceable agreement to stop acts of discrimination or breach of public sector equality duty in lieu of an investigation, unlawful act notice or compliance notice.
To conduct an assessment of compliance with public sector equality duties.
To serve a compliance notice for breach of public sector equality duties (for breach of general duties only after an assessment).
For the purposes of an inquiry, investigation or assessment, to require any person to provide information, produce documents or give oral evidence.
To apply for an injunction to restrain/interdict to prohibit commission of an unlawful act.
To bring proceedings in relation to discriminatory advertisements, instructions or pressure to discriminate.
To bring own-name proceedings, including judicial review proceedings, and/or to intervene in proceedings relevant to its equality or human rights functions.

Litigation and casework

Action to assist victims of discrimination:

To assist an individual in proceedings that relate wholly or partly to alleged breach of one of the equality enactments, where the individual alleges that they have been the victim of the alleged breach, including providing legal advice, legal representation, facilities for settlement or any other form of assistance.
To assist an individual in proceedings concerning a landlord's refusal to consent to an improvement in a dwelling to facilitate the enjoyment of the premises by a disabled tenant or other lawful occupier.
To make arrangements for the provision of conciliation services for disputes which could otherwise be litigated under one of the equality enactments.
To institute legal proceedings, including judicial review proceedings, relevant to a matter within the Commission's functions.

Biography - Dr Nicola Brewer CMG

Dr Nicola Brewer CMG was appointed the Equality and Human Rights Commission's first chief executive in December 2006. She took up her appointment on 5 March 2007.

Prior to joining the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Nicola was Director General for Europe at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, where she was responsible for delivering one of the UK's 10 international strategic priorities: 'an effective and globally competitive EU in a secure neighbourhood'. She led the FCO's contribution to the UK's 2005 Presidency of the EU, and advised the Foreign Secretary and Minister for Europe on EU and other European policy issues. She sits on the FCO Board.

Before that, Nicola was Director General for Regional Programmes at the Department for International Development (DfID), supervising the UK's overseas bilateral aid programmes, and was also a DfID board member.

Nicola has worked overseas in India, France and Mexico. Dr Brewer was educated at the Belfast Royal Academy and joined the FCO in 1983, with degrees in English and linguistics from the University of Leeds. She was awarded the CMG in 2002. Nicola is married and has two children.

The age of difference, Trevor Phillips speech at Sheffield Hallam University, 27th November 2007, http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/newsandcomment/speeches/Pages/SheffieldHallam.aspx