The UK Government is cutting vital sources of support for victims of discrimination. Responding to the announcement today (15 May) that the government is to cut the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) budget, outsource its helpline and scale back the public sector equalities duty, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Today's announcement is bad news for people facing discrimination and mistreatment as they will have fewer places to turn to for support". More here
The announcement came during the week that an EHRC report shows why government policies must be 'equality proofed' for impact on women and minority groups. Responding to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) assessment of the 2010 Spending Review published 14 May, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'The findings from the EHRC investigation should help the government pay closer attention to the impact its policies are having on women and minority groups. The assessment also shows how the equality duty is helping public sector bodies to 'equality proof' policies and ensure that there is more evidence behind crucial government decisions. More here
The recent report of the Working Group on the establishment of the new, enhanced Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) has called for the introduction of a similar equality proofing type mechanism, "There should be a general statutory duty on public bodies to have regard to equality and human rights", something Congress called for in it's submission to the group. More here
