The Review Recommendations Published – PARTIAL VICTORY
A big thank you to all of you who signed ROTA’s petition on the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) and for supporting our campaign to save the PSED.
The independent Steering Group of the PSED review published its recommendations on 6thSeptember. Your voice and support has ensured there are no recommendations to remove the Public Sector Equality Duty. This is great news but we have not won yet!
The Steering Group has recommended that the government explore alternate means to judicial review to resolve disputes relating to the Equality Duty. The government has now launched a consultation: ‘Judicial Review: Proposals for Further Reform’. By removing or limiting the option of Judicial Review the right to enforce the Equality Duty will be severely weakened.
Furthermore, the recommendations seriously undermine the ‘specific duty’ to publish equality information, which exists to ensure transparency and demonstrate that public authorities are complying with the Equality Duty.
The campaign to save and strengthen the effectiveness of the Equality Duty must continue. We will contact you with what comes next in our campaign to save and strengthen the Equality Duty. Once again thank you for your support!
See here for recommendations of the review, the ministerial statement, and the NatCen qualitative research that informed the review.
See here for ‘Judicial Review: Proposals for Further Reform’.
See here for ROTA's response to MoJ's consultation of the Judicial Review.
See here for Government response to the consultation ‘Judicial review: proposals for further reform’
Some critical reactions to the PSED review report from the blogosphere
Touchstone: http://touchstoneblog.org.uk/2013/09/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-of-the-equality-duty-review
The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) is seen by the current government as bureaucratic and burdensome. Although the government says that it only wants to make sure that the duty is working as intended, the clear message from David Cameron is that equality is a burden as seen in his speech to the CBI.
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David Cameron and Nick Clegg have moved to head off an embarrassing row with race equality campaigners after the Guardian highlighted an uncompromising attack on the coalition by the mother of the murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence. Read the Guardian article. |
Doreen Lawrence OBE and Dr Richard Stone OBE, supported by ROTA and other members of the BME VXS coalition sent this open letter detailing their concerns about the Governments early review of the Public Sector Equality Duty. Read the letter.
November 2012
Response from the Prime Minister David Cameron MP and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg MP. Read the letter.
December 2012
In a response to Mrs Lawrence and Dr Richard Stone’s letter about the review of the Public Sector Equality Duty the Welsh Government clearly sets out their position. Read the letter.
December 2012
For ROTA’s and other voluntary and community sector organisations' submissions to the government’s equality duty review please see below.
Race on the Agenda Submission to the Government's Equality Duty Review. Read the submission.
Citizens Advice's submission. Read the submission.
EDF's submission to the Governments Equality Duty Review. Read the submission.
EDF's Supplementary Evidence submission of the Equality Duty Review. Read the submission.
Race Equality Coalition Submission Recommendations. Read the submission.
London Councils' Equality in London – London local authorities delivering best practice. Read the report.