6. Memorandum from the Commission
for Racial Equality
The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) welcomes
the attention which the Joint Committee is giving to the Concluding
Observations of CERD. The UK's commitment to the Convention is
significant for the achievement of racial equality in the UK and
we welcome steps to raise awareness of CERD and its implications
among the public and policy makers.
The CRE is pleased that the CERD observations
acknowledge the UK's constructive approach as well as specific
positive measures such as the strengthening of the Race Relations
Act 1976. This has indeed lead to a significant shift in progress
on race equality, for example:
— the Treasury has, with CRE help,
negotiated to include race equality performance measures in the
Public Service Agreements of all Government departments; and
— the CRE has produced a framework
for use by Regulatory, Audit and Inspection bodies in assessing
public sector compliance with the race equality duty and has agreed
sector-specific Memoranda of Understanding with these bodies on
an individual basis.
The CRE has also been involved in significant
progress in other areas, for example in football, last year saw
the setting up of the All Agency Review Team (involving all the
key football organisations) which aims to make race equality a
priority throughout the game.
THE COMMISSION
FOR RACIAL
EQUALITY
The Race Relations Act 1976, as amended, makes
it unlawful to discriminate against anyone on grounds of race,
colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins. The CRE was established
under the Act to work for the elimination of discrimination, and
the promotion of equality of opportunity and good race relations
generally.
The Commission can advise or assist people with
cases before courts and employment tribunals and can conduct general
investigations and named formal investigations with the power
to issue non-discrimination notices, when it has grounds to believe
discrimination may be taking place.
Public bodies have a duty to have due regard
to the need to eliminate discrimination and promote equality of
opportunity and good race relations in carrying out their functions.
The Commission is working to help them deliver this duty.
NB: The comments below reflect the CRE's
remit and therefore are limited to Great Britain. The numbers
given refer to the relevant paragraphs in the concluding observations.
9. PREPARATION
OF A
NATIONAL ACTION
PLAN FOLLOWING
THE WORLD
CONFERENCE AGAINST
RACISM
It should be noted that the statement in the
concluding observations is not entirely correct, in that the Government
is currently taking no action on producing a Plan. The Government
has indicated that it wishes to concentrate all its attention
on its forthcoming race equality and community cohesion strategy,
following its consultation paper Strength in Diversity.
Once this is completed consideration will be given to whether
the strategy adequately reflects what a National Action Plan should
have included.
12. UK'S INTERPRETIVE
STATEMENT ON
ARTICLE 4
In April this year, the House of Lords Select
Committee on Religious Offences undertook a wide review of religious
offences. The Committee considered the issue of incitement to
religious hatred. In July, the Home Secretary announced that the
Government would introduce legislation to prohibit incitement
to religious hatred at the next opportunity, and a commitment
has since been given in the Queen's speech (it will come within
the legislation to establish the Serious Organised Crime Agency).
The CRE considers that this represents a significant step in tackling
the concerns raised in the CERD observation.
However, the CRE has serious concerns with regard
to the low rates of prosecution for the existing law on incitement
to racial hatred and the behaviour of members of Far Right parties
as councillors, school governors and employees. It is concerned
that new legislation on incitement to religious hatred might similarly
fail to address the issue effectively. Attention is needed to
determine whether deficiencies lie with the legislation itself
or in its enforcement, and then corresponding action is needed.
13. ROLE OF
THE PRESS
COMPLAINTS COMMISSION
(PCC)
Clause 12 of the PCC's code covers complaints
about discrimination and there is also the option to make a complaint
on general matters of accuracy. The CRE makes regular representations
to the PCC regarding discrimination and has been instrumental
in securing amendments to the code.
The CRE would welcome a strengthening of the
code in relation to religious discrimination including the importance
of avoiding generalised attacks on groups, for example the use
of phrases such as "terrorist Muslims". The CRE considers
there is a need for a greater awareness of the impact that media
coverage can have on community relations and tensions beween communities,
and would like to see this reflected more strongly in the code.
14. ATTACKS AND
ANTAGONISM TOWARDS
ASYLUM SEEKERS
The CRE shares the concerns outlined in the
concluding observations and is keen to see measures along the
lines suggested.
The CRE has itself taken steps to promote best
practice in this area through its Safe Communities Initiative
(SCI). For example, SCI is working with the Home Office on a youth
mentoring project, and discussions are currently taking place
regarding extending the project so that asylum seekers could be
mentored by members of the host community. This would be of benefit
both in supporting asylum seekers and in developing insight among
host communities, which would help to promote good race relations.
15. IMPLEMENTATION
OF THE
EUROPEAN RACE
DIRECTIVE
The CRE has, in its responses to Government
consultations on the European Directives and on the Commission
for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR), highlighted the need for
a review of, equality legislation and organisations in order to
ensure a coherent and effective approach to equality across the
different strands. The lack of any Government commitment to coherent
equality legislation was one of the CRE's reasons for rejecting
the Government's proposals in its white paper, Fairness for
All, published in May 2004. Apart from re-enforcing the hierarchy
of equality across the strands, the proposed piecemeal approach
and absence of a single equality Act mean that many of the claimed
benefits of a CEHR, such as clearer cross-strand guidance and
more effective handling of complaints of multiple discrimination,
cannot be realised. The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland
has indicated that the lack of coherent legislation across the
strands has made its task more difficult.
In the summer of 2004, Jacqui Smith MP, Deputy
Minister for Women and Equality, announced in a speech on the
White Paper, Fairness for All, the Government's intention
to bring forward work on a single equality Act. The recently published
Government response to comments on Fairness for All also
states that the Government is "beginning to consider the
best mechanisms for reviewing the current discrimination legislation
framework", and we welcome this approach. The timing would
be important for the effectiveness of the CEHR.
The Government has indicated, in the Queen's
speech, its intention to introduce legislation to outlaw discrimination
on grounds of religion and belief in relation to goods and services.
The CRE argued for this reform which will provide much needed
protection for ethnic minorities who belong to religious minorities,
including Muslims. It is not yet clear whether this proposed extension
to the legislation on religion and belief will extend to public
functions, such as those of the police. It is our view that the
legislation should, in that and other respects, mirror the provisions
in the race equality legislation to the greatest possible extent.
Our experience of implementation of the race equality duty under
the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 leads us to recommend
the extension of this approach to addressing discrimination on
grounds of religion and belief. A proactive duty to promote equality
can address barriers to inequality beyond those addressed by legislation
providing protection to victims of discrimination.
The CRE has pressed for the EU Race Directive
to be implemented by primary legislation to avoid the discrepancies
in the legislation that it foresaw would be introduced by implementing
the Race Directive through regulation. The Government acknowledged
the anomalies and undertook to ". . . rectify any inconsistencies
. . . when an opportunity arises" in its publication Towards
Equality and Diversity: The Way Ahead in autumn 2002.
However, we understand that the Government is
not currently proposing to remedy the situation in the Bill to
establish the CEHR, as might have been expected, given the earlier
assurance.
17. ANTI-TERRORISM
CRIME AND
SECURITY ACT
The CRE has expressed concerns regarding the
impact of terrorism legislation on good race relations in two
consultation responses this year, to the Joint Committee on Human
Rights (June) and in a submission to the Home Affairs Select Committee
(July).
The CRE recommends the use of comprehensive
monitoring of the use of police powers under this legislation
on the grounds of religion as well as race, and has emphasised
the need for responsible police media relations and reporting.
In addition to comprehensive monitoring, the
CRE believes that Muslim and other affected communities need to
be consulted and involved in relevant fora concerning anti-terrorism
investigations. The CRE has highlighted the need for effective
training of police officers to ensure that, in implementing the
provisions of anti-terrorism legislation, they nonetheless comply
with the duties imposed under section 71 of the RRA 1976, as amended.
18 & 19. POLICE
COMPLAINTS COMMISSION
AND "STOPS
AND SEARCHES"
BY THE
POLICE
The CRE supports the concluding observations
in these areas.
20. PROTECTION
AGAINST RELIGIOUS
DISCRIMINATION
RRA case law has established that Jews and Sikhs
are mono-ethnic religious groups and as such are covered by the
RRA while multi-ethnic religious groups such as Muslims and Christians
are not. The Employment Equality Regulations (Religion or Belief)
2003 introduce protection against religious discrimination in
employment and vocational training, but not goods facilities premises
and services or indeed all other areas covered by the RRA. In
September the Prime Minister gave a commitment to introduce legislation
to prohibit religious discrimination in the provision of goods
facilities and services and this was confirmed in the Queen's
Speech. The CRE welcomes this but, as noted under observation
15, the CRE is concerned that it is not yet clear whether the
prohibition will extend, as it should, to all public functions
such as those of the police.
21. OFFENCES
INVOLVING RELIGIOUS
HATRED
See comments in relation to observation 12 above.
22. HUMAN RIGHTS
COMMISSION
The then CRE Chair gave evidence to the JCHR
in 2002 in support of a separate Human Rights Commission (HRC).
However, in the absence of a separate HRC—or proposals for
one—the CRE decided in 2003 to support the inclusion of
human rights in the remit of the single equality commission, on
which the Government was then consulting.
As the JCHR will be aware, the Commission for
Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) now proposed by the Government
will have a human rights remit. However, the Government proposal
is that, while this body will have a duty to raise awareness and
promote compliance with Human Rights legislation, it will not
have the power to bring or support individual human rights cases.
The CEHR will have the power to bring joint
equality and human rights cases, but will not be able to pursue
these if the equality part of the case falls away, unless—in
the light of experience—a proposed order-making power is
used specifically to provide for this. The CRE considers this
a cumbersome approach.
The CRE argued in favour of the CEHR being able
to pursue such cases. We consider that the CEHR would have a fiduciary
duty to its clients to continue to support them in such circumstances,
and that the CRE currently has the power to do so under section
43 of the Race Relations Act 1976. The proposed change could therefore
amount to a reduction in powers.
However, the CRE is pleased that the Government
has responded to its concerns and those of others, so that the
CEHR will now have the power to conduct inquiries into human rights
issues without having to refer to the Secretary of State for powers
to require information.
In CEHR Task Force discussions and its response
to the White Paper, the CRE expressed its concern as to what action
the proposed CEHR could take if it uncovered human rights breaches
in the course of such an inquiry, for example into a residential
home for the elderly, or in a formal investigation into discrimination.
It would not be able to change the terms of reference to convert
the inquiry into a belief formal investigation, nor issue a non-discrimination
notice.
The situation for the CEHR will be different
in Scotland, where the devolved Parliament intends to set up a
separate HRC, and the handling of cases will depend on the remit
of that body. The Government has proposed a memorandum of understanding
to formalise the relationship between the CEHR and the Scottish
HRC in due course. The White Paper envisaged that human rights
relating to devolved issues would be dealt with by the Scottish
HRC, and the CEHR would deal with matters retained to Westminster.
CRE Scotland has expressed concern, however, that this is not
always an easy distinction to make, for example in relation to
the education (devolved) of asylum seekers (retained).
23. DISCRIMINATION
FACED BY
GYPSY AND
TRAVELLER COMMUNITIES
The CRE considers that Gypsy and Traveller communities
face some of the worst discrimination in Britain today. There
is clear evidence of inequality in relation to site provision,
education, health, treatment by the police, employment, and in
access to public and private facilities and services.
The CRE's top priority is to secure better site
provision. It is this issue that has been identified by many Gypsies
and Travellers as the most significant problem facing them in
Britain today, and is the key to resolving related education,
health, employment and community relations issues. There are not
enough sites and those that exist are often in polluted environments
far from public services. We have worked with the ODPM Select
Committee on this issue. We endorse the Select Committee's view
that local authorities should have a statutory duty to provide
or facilitate sites.
The CRE launched a Gypsy and Traveller Scrutiny
project in October 2004 and called for councillors, council officers,
police officers, Gypsies and Irish Travellers and support bodies,
to submit evidence by 5 December regarding what local authorities
are doing to promote race equality in relation to Gypsies and
Irish Travellers. The research will focus on planning, site provision
and eviction, and the evidence received will assist the CRE in
establishing where there are barriers to change, what good practice
currently exists, and what guidance is needed. For more details:
http://www.cre.gov.uk/media/nr—arch/2004/nr041018.html
24. AFFIRMATIVE
MEASURES TO
TACKLE DISCRIMINATION
The Race Relations Act 1976 allows for Positive
Action under Section 35 to meet the special needs of people from
particular racial groups in relation to training, education, welfare,
or other benefits. Sections 37 and 38 also provide for encouragement
for people from particular groups to take up particular work and
training where people from those groups are under-represented
among people doing that work. It is necessary to regularly review
whether there is continuing under-representation or special needs
in order for positive action measures to continue, as measures
are supposed to be temporary in response to disadvantage. Unless
a positive action scheme falls within these provisions it will
be unlawful.
The CRE is in the process of updating its statutory
codes of practice in employment and in housing.
In relation to housing, the CRE would like to
draw attention to Shelter's report The Black and Minority Ethnic
Housing Crisis published in September 2004. It includes evidence
showing that homelessness has risen over twice as fast among ethnic
minority households compared to the general population since 1997.
The report is available at: http://england.shelter.org.uk/policy/policy-825.cfm/ct/1/pg/1/plitem/153
28. ARTICLE 14:
INDIVIDUAL PETITION
The CRE regrets the government's recent decision
not to allow the right to individual petition to CERD, and looks
forward to a review of the decision at or before expiry of the
two year period committed to by the Government.
7 December 2004
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