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If the government is bold enough to sanction a human rights dimension for the proposed single equality body, the result could be far reaching for care professionals. The likely merger of the Commission for Racial Equality, the Disability Rights Commission and the Equal Opportunities Commissionhas led to a proposal, backed by MPs and peers, to give the new organisation a mandate to promote human rights.

But some ministers suspect that such a body may spend its time challenging the government's own human rights record on sensitive issues such as asylum. And so this proposal may fall by the wayside long before those who would be most affected have a chance to consider its impact.

When it comes to light that psychiatric patients have been fed while tied to the toilet or that medical staff have decided not to resuscitate an older person, few care professionals use human rights language to explain what has gone wrong. Despite the government's hope that its Human Rights Act 1998 would lead to a culture change in public services, providing "an ethical bottom line" and a "fairness guarantee for the citizen", few public authorities have overhauled their working practices to infuse human rights concepts into their thinking.

Research by the District Audit has found that most councils and NHS trusts have not reviewed their policies for compliance with the act and 42 per cent of health bodies have not taken action to raise staff awareness.¹

With responsibility for implementation spread thinly across Whitehall and no statutory body to drive change, the act has not led to the transformation its drafters predicted. A recent investigation for the British Institute of Human Rights on its impact on children, disabled and older people and refugees found low awareness of the act and that it had not been used as a lever for systemic change.

The government sidestepped calls for a human rights commission by promising a parliamentary select committee inquiry. The Joint Committee on Human Rights found a widespread lack of respect for the rights of public service users, especially the most vulnerable. Neither public bodies nor those who inspect and audit them prioritise respect for human rights.

The committee concluded that the case for a statutory human rights body was "compelling". It should create a climate in which respect for human dignity becomes an integral part of our contact with public authorities and with each other. With rare optimism, they argued that such a culture could help create a more humane society and enhance the quality of public services. Their preferred option was a combined human rights and equality commission.


The government's plan to establish a single equality body is prompted by EU regulations that require the UK to make discrimination at work on grounds of age, sexual orientation and religion (or belief) unlawful. It is not practical to create three more commissions to match those that already exist on race, gender and disability - it makes sense to create a single organisation that promotes equality for all.

Critics argue that adding responsibility for broader human rights standards would be an unwelcome complication; others say attention may be diverted away from equality issues to contentious human rights cases. But the existing equality commissions, working with non-governmental organisations such as Help the Aged and Stonewall, under the auspices of the Equality and Diversity Forum, have told the government that the new body must have a human rights mandate. There is an eagerness to discuss how this human rights dimension may work. Ministers, too, need evidence of the advantages for service providers of a combined diversity-human rights strategy and of the benefits for users.

If the single equality commission gets the nod there will be consultation this autumn on detailed options. Ministers may yet rule out, or decide to consult, on the human rights dimension. If the select committee is right, one significant opportunity to enhance the quality of life of vulnerable people rests on their decision.

Sarah Spencer is senior associate at the Institute for Public Policy Research and chairperson of the Equality and Diversity Forum. s.spencer@ippr.org.uk 

Reference

¹ District Audit, The Human Rights Act. A Bulletin for Public Bodies, Audit Commission, 2003