Revamped equality body wins approval

Campaigners have welcomed revised proposals for the new single
equality body contained in the Equality Bill published last
week.

The Disability Rights Commission and the Commission for Racial
Equality said that the proposals for the Commission for Equality
and Human Rights were a considerable improvement on those put
forward in the white paper on the commission published in May.

DRC chair Bert Massie said that proposals for a fully resourced
disability committee within the commission would ensure that
disability rights did not become marginalised. But he also warned
that the DRC would need to ensure that “the promises of resources
translate into action”.

The DRC had argued that there needed to be “specific provisions”
within the new single commission to ensure that disabled people’s
needs were met. Massie added that the revised body was now “well
placed” to help deliver equality and fairness for disabled
people.

He said that the equalities review launched by the government
last month to look at the underlying causes of disadvantage was a
“real opportunity” to make progress on creating single equality
legislation.

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