Equality Bill [Lords]

I want to finish my point. It would be helpful if the Government published a breakdown of how the costs were arrived at, so that Members who want to deal with the arguments made by organisations such as the Commission for Racial Equality can reach an informed opinion about, and decision on, what is a realistic level. Concern has also been expressed about the existing agencies’ input into the new body. A particular worry is how the CRE’s input will be managed, bearing in mind that it will come on board later on. While researching for this debate I discovered the alarming fact that the three main equality bodies have different pay rates. Indeed, I was somewhat horrified to find out that the EOC has the lowest pay rate, which seems somewhat perverse. It would be helpful if the Minister gave guidance on how that issue will be resolved.