Equality Bill [HL]

My Lords, like other noble Lords, I   greatly welcome the Bill. I especially welcome Clause   3, which was mentioned earlier. The vision it sets out is absolutely wonderful, and I am very pleased that it has been written into the Bill. I hope that we can use the Bill at least as an aim to achieve the type of society most of us would wish to live in. As others have said, laws alone cannot bring about equality, or eliminate the prejudice and discrimination that exist, but they can change people’s attitudes. Through the law, people will have to recognise that prejudice and discrimination will not be tolerated and cannot play any part in a decent society. Every individual should be treated with respect and dignity. That is why I believe that this vision of society can and should be achieved. The Bill will go a long way along that road to achieving this great vision. My remarks will in the main be about Wales—I do not think that will surprise many people—but I shall also talk about the role of the Women’s National Commission. I declare an interest as the Welsh representative on the board of the Women’s National Commission. When I first learnt of the plans for the Equality Bill, merging the existing strands and creating new ones, my first thoughts were that the woman’s voice would be lost in this much enlarged commission. I was not alone in that fear. Women’s concerns were that in a single commission, the priority given to their issue—that of gender equality—will be lower than that given to others. Others have spoken about the funding and the different figures which have been bandied about, ranging from £70 million to £120 million. I am sure that the Minister will refer to those figures. The premise behind the single commission is that all the minority groups face similar issues and that a single strategy will work for all. But women face different issues in achieving equality—different from the other strands. The others can be dealt with by a common strategy of reducing discrimination—for example, using strategies that prevent people being treated differently from everyone else. For women, the problem is that gender roles must be challenged, and these are mainly in the private sphere rather than the public domain. For example, women’s equality is substantially eroded by the pandemic of violence against women. That makes it difficult for them to, for example, attend evening meetings or travel safely, so they cannot easily enter public life or work in all sectors without being subject to harassment. Women are poorer than men throughout their lives, earning up to 40   per cent less, and experience the double burden of sex discrimination and social exclusion. These days, discrimination against women is rarely overt and direct, but the insidious impact of violence and poverty combine to maintain their inequality. The strategies required to promote women’s equality must look at the issues, not just straightforward awareness of the benefits of diversity or the prevention of direct discrimination. Will the new body look at the invisible causes of women’s inequality? Can the Minister give any guarantee that a single commission will recognise these significant differences in the position of women as against the other strands? What will be the position of the Women’s National Commission when the new commission is established? I am sure that the Minister is aware that the WNC carries out valuable research work on behalf of the Government, such as the document entitled Unlocking the Secret: Women Open the Door on Domestic Violence, which deals with the strategy for domestic violence. The WNC also has a successful Muslim Women’s Network which again gives useful advice to government. Another strand of its work is to ensure that the voice of women is heard in government, through contacts with its 400-plus partnership networks throughout the UK. It meets regularly with its partners by holding road shows and seminars in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland as well as in England. Will the Minister give an assurance that the valuable work carried out by the Women’s National Commission will continue in its role as an extremely useful body advising the Government on the views of women in the UK when the new commission is established? I warmly welcome the fact that the new commission will recognise devolution for Wales in that there will be a commissioner for Wales and a committee for Wales, as set out in paragraph 24 of Schedule 1, and that the Wales commissioner and the committee will be appointed in consultation with the Welsh Assembly. Under Clause 43(1) I note that there will be a transition period and that there will be transitional commissioners. Will the Minister assure us that one of the transitional commissioners will be a Wales transitional commissioner, and that a transitional Wales committee should be established soon after to begin the work in Wales? In Wales, travel between north and south can be difficult. Whatever route one tries there is no quick way. To travel from Cardiff to Llandudno by car or any other way is 200 miles, and no motorways run from north to south. Everything in Wales runs from east to west. There are difficulties when one travels from north to south. If the commission in Wales is to be effective there will need to be a presence not just in Cardiff but also in north Wales and possibly west Wales. Will the Minister at this stage give any indication on the thinking about regional offices in Wales? It is felt strongly by groups in Wales that the Wales commissioner should be a full-time post. Looking at the work needed to be carried out, I believe, as do many others, that it would require more commitment that two or three days a month. Grant giving should be delegated to the Wales committee. Earlier, we discussed a White Paper for further devolution for Wales and in these devolutionary days, when many more decisions for Wales are made in Wales, it makes sense for this matter to be devolved to the Wales committee, as it would have a better understanding of the needs of Wales. There are a number of different bodies in Wales such as the Children’s Commissioner, which was mentioned by my noble friend Lady Massey, the Welsh Language Board, the soon-to-be established Commissioner for Older People in Wales, the audit inspection bodies in Wales and others. In order to make them work properly with the commission there will be a need for a memorandum of understanding between them and the new commission. As the Minister will be aware, the Welsh language plays an important role in Welsh life and is the first language in many communities. I am assuming that the workings of the new commission, especially in Wales, will be bilingual. That is probably covered by the Welsh language Acts. The Equality and Human Rights Commission and its commitment to a devolved structure have been warmly welcomed. I have mentioned some of the points of concern regarding Wales and other matters relating to the Women’s National Commission and I look forward to the Minister’s reply.