Letter from the Chair of the Committee
to Baroness Andrews, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department
for Communities and Local Government, dated 10 February 2009
LOCAL DEMOCRACY, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND
CONSTRUCTION BILL
The Joint Committee on Human Rights is currently
scrutinising this Bill for compatibility with the United Kingdom's
human rights obligations.
We note that a significant part of the Bill
relates to the governance of local authorities and their duties
in respect of local participation in democracy and decision making.
We, and our predecessor Committee, have both
recommended that all public authorities, including local authorities,
should be subject to an express positive duty to protect and promote
the Convention rights guaranteed by the Human Rights Act 1998.
In our 2008 Report on Adults with Learning Disabilities we
argued:
The creation of a positive duty to respect human
rights would help kick-start a change of attitude to the role
of the Human Rights Act and to rights more generally. We doubt
that, at least in the short term, oversight by the Equality and
Human Rights Commission will encourage individual authorities
to take a more proactive approach. On the other hand, witnesses
to [our inquiry on human rights and adults with learning disabilities],
including the Minister for Care Services and the Minister for
Disabled People, stressed their view that the potential impact
of the Disability Equality Duty will be to change fundamentally
the way that public authorities look at disability rights. We
remain persuaded that the same is true of positive duties and
the Human Rights Act. We reiterate our recommendation that the
Government consider the introduction of an express positive duty
on public authorities to promote respect for human rights, where
the European Convention on Human Rights imposes a positive obligation
on the State.[1]
The ECHR, and the HRA 1998 already impose
positive duties on local authorities to take action to protect
the rights of individuals, in some circumstances. We consider
that, like the positive duties under existing equality legislation,
a clear, express positive duty on local authorities to protect
and promote Convention rights could change the approach of councils
to their obligations under the HRA 1998.
I would be grateful if you could provide some
more information on the Government's approach to the equality
and human rights duties associated with local authorities:
(a) Does the Government agree that local authorities'
positive equality duties have enhanced protection for individuals
from discriminatory treatment in relation to local public services?
If not, why not? If so, could you provide us with some practical
examples.
(b) Does the Government consider that the financial
or administrative burdens placed on local authorities by existing
equality duties have been proportionate to any benefits achieved
for local residents? If not, why not?
(c) Does the Government agree that local authorities
are already under positive duties to take action to protect the
Convention rights of their residents in certain circumstances?
(d) Can you give us some explicit examples of
steps taken by Government to make it clear to local authorities
that their duties under the HRA 1998 include positive duties?
(e) Can you give us any clear examples which
show that local authorities have taken steps to meet those positive
duties, where necessary, through changes to their policies and
practices?
(f) Are you aware of any local authorities which
have conducted an audit of their existing policies and practices
for compatibility with the Convention rights guaranteed by HRA
1998? If so, we would be grateful if you could provide us with
the details of any such audits and their outcomes.
I have copied this letter to Trevor Phillips,
Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), in the
light of the Commission's ongoing investigation into the implementation
of the Human Rights Act 1998. We would welcome any comments which
the EHRC would like to make about implementation of the Human
Rights Act 1998 by local authorities.
Trevor Phillips
Chair, Equality and Human Rights Commission
1 Seventh Report of Session 2007-08, paragraph 117. Back
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