Equality Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 120:"Page 11, line 40, at beginning insert ““require or””" The noble Baroness said: As my noble friends Lady   Lockwood and Lady Gould of Potternewton are unable to be in the Chamber at this time, I have pleasure in moving the amendment on their behalf. This group of amendments, Amendments Nos. 120 to 122 to Clause 23, and Amendments Nos. 123 to 127 to Clause 24, would have the effect of strengthening the commission’s role in the provision of unlawful act notices and action plans. The amendments have been brought forward in response to concerns expressed by the Equality and Diversity Forum, which represents over 25 different organisations actively engaged with equality and human rights. Those include the three existing commissions and representatives of the additional equality strands which would be covered by the new commission. At present, the Bill provides for the commission to issue a notice requiring an organisation to prepare an action plan and to make recommendations on what should be in that plan. The commission can then either approve the draft plan or make the organisation in question revise it, or if none is forthcoming, seek a court order requiring submission of a draft plan for its   approval. However, in circumstances where an organisation may be less than willing to comply, this procedure could allow the discriminator to stall—submitting draft plans when required to do so which are inadequate, and thereby drawing out the process and avoiding taking action. That would of course be detrimental to the spirit behind the Bill. Under the existing legislation, the existing commissions have the power in an anti-discrimination notice to require the discriminator to cease the discrimination in question. This power does not appear to be available to the commission. It could therefore be argued that there is a regression issue at stake. Additionally, there may be circumstances where it would be impracticable for an organisation to prepare the plan itself; for example, if it was a small business or lacked the required knowledge and experience. Therefore, these amendments give the commission the power to draw up action plans by itself, from the beginning if necessary, in consultation with the organisation involved. This may often be the preferred option for many, especially businesses and service providers. The amendments allow the commission to take over the process in those extreme cases where it is necessary to prevent foot-dragging on the part of an organisation. They also permit the commission to require the action plan to contain specific measures, and thereby it can require an organisation to undertake to cease particular actions. I hope that my noble friend will consider these amendments, which are aimed at strengthening the new commission. I beg to move.