Subject: Key Amendments

Amendments

Disability

FE and HE qualifications bodies; and the Public Sector Equality Duty

During the Lords Committee amendments were passed to rectify an omission in Bill that had excluded FE and HE qualifications bodies from disability discrimination provisions; and to add to the Public Sector Equality Duty a duty to take steps to take account of disabled people's disabilities.

Costs of reasonable adjustments

During the second Lords Committee Day on 13 January, government amendment 45ZA (to Clause 20) was passed, which makes it clearer in the Bill that costs of reasonable adjustments should not be passed onto individual disabled persons.

Pre-employment questionnaires

Government amendments were passed to prohibit the use of pre-employment health questionnaires, except in prescribed circumstances and to give the Commission new powers to take action in respect of organisations which contravene this prohibition.

Taxis

Amendments were passed to ensure that policies of controlling taxi numbers would exempt taxis that provided disabled access if not enough of these vehicles operated within a locality; and to allow licensing authorities to hold lists of wheelchair accessible taxis. This latter measure would ensure that regulations in England and Wales mirrored those in Scotland, ensuring that disabled people were assisted by drivers of wheelchair accessible taxis.

Religion or Belief

A government amendment, the aim of which was to clarify the definition of employment for the purposes of an organised religion, was rejected – and an opposition amendment to remove the part of schedule 9 that had outlined the employment exemptions was voted through. Harriet Harman has indicated that the Government will not seek to overturn this or push through the government amendment in the next stage of the Bill.

Pregnancy / maternity discrimination

Government amendment no. 37 was passed to remove 'Chapter 2 of' from Clause 17, thereby ensuring that pregnancy or maternity could not be grounds for discrimination in schools. This was a point that the Commission has lobbied extensively on.

Religion or Belief, sexual orientation and gender reassignment – harassment

The Government had an amendment passed (to clause 204) that will clarify that where harassment is not prohibited explicitly in the Bill (as in the case of religion and belief, sexual orientation, and gender re-assignment), detriment will include unwanted conduct that violates a person’s dignity or creates a hostile environment. In other words, behaviour that amounts to harassment will be caught by the discrimination provisions where explicit harassment provisions do not apply.

Matrimonial property rules

Amendments were passed related to abolition of a husband’s duty to maintain his wife; abolition of presumption of advancement between husband and wife; clarification that purchases from a housekeeping allowance belong to husband and wife in equal shares regardless of who paid or received the allowance; and equal division of purchases from a housekeeping allowance paid by one civil partner to another.