Conclusions and recommendations
Human rights vision
1. We
agree with the main findings of the EHRC's human rights inquiry.
As several of our previous inquiries have concluded, embedding
a culture of human rights in public authorities in the UK would
drive service improvements which would benefit people who use
them. The Commission has a major role to play in leading this
process. Our concern is with whether the EHRC is doing enough
to devise and disseminate a culture of respect for human rights
in public authorities, the main aim our predecessors identified
for the Commission. (Paragraph 15)
Human rights strategy
2. The
publication of a human rights strategy is evidence that the EHRC
is seeking to approach its responsibilities for human rights matters
on a more systematic basis than hitherto; but, in our view, the
Commission is not yet fulfilling the human rights mandate set
out in the Equality Act. (Paragraph 26)
3. We
agree entirely with the strong criticisms of the human rights
Minister that the EHRC's human rights strategy is "too full
of aspiration and too light on what I would call concrete goals
that can be delivered within a specified time frame". (Paragraph
27)
4. An
important next step will be for the human rights strategy to be
redrafted to make it, as the Minister said, less aspirational
and more concrete. We recommend that the EHRC redraft its human
rights strategy so that it is more focused and includes timescales,
milestones and indicators of success. A revised strategy should
clarify how a stand alone human rights strategy relates to the
EHRC's overall strategy for 2009-12. The Commission should ask
for public views on the existing strategy now and aim to launch
its revised strategy later in 2010. (Paragraph 28)
Leadership of the Commission
5. In
our view, merging three equality bodies and developing a strong
corporate board for the new body, making use of the expertise
and talents of all commissioners, are challenging tasks and we
conclude that in the early years of the EHRC's existence this
was not done successfully, for which the Chair must bear responsibility.
(Paragraph 48)
The new EHRC board
6. We
have no strong view on the size of the EHRC board and can see
the advantages of a larger board, if it can be led effectively.
We are concerned, however, that the Minister has not taken action
to broaden the political background of commissioners, in line
with the Deloitte recommendation. The EHRC operates in a political
environment, dealing with issues which are often the focus of
national debate. Commissioners should include people affiliated
to all of the main parties, as well as those without party affiliations.
In our view, the Commission's credibility across the political
spectrum would be enhanced if it included at least one commissioner
with links to the Conservative Party. (Paragraph 52)
Reappointment of Mr Phillips
7. In
our view, the reappointment of the Chair and Deputy Chair of the
EHRC should on this occasion have been subject to open competition,
to help restore confidence in the organisation and its leadership
following the well-publicised difficulties the EHRC faced in 2009.
The Minister's decision simply to reappoint Mr Phillips without
any parliamentary involvement could undermine the perceived independence
of the Commission and put its accreditation as a national human
rights institution at risk. (Paragraphs 56 and 57)
8. Although
our strong preference remains for the appointment of EHRC commissioners
to be taken out of the hands of ministers, we regret that the
Human Rights Minister was not more closely involved in the decision
to reappoint the Chair on this occasion. If Ministers are to decide
who should Chair the EHRC, the Human Rights Minister should be
involved. (Paragraph 58)
9. We
recommend that the appropriate select committees should be informed
by the Government whenever the holder of a post subject to pre-appointment
hearings is reappointed. (Paragraph 59)
The position of chief executive
10. The
recruitment of Dr Brewer's successor appears to have proceeded
at a leisurely pace even before the Government's late intervention
to query the salary expectations of candidates led to the competition
being suspended, apparently until after the next Budget. There
is every possibility that the post will have to be re-advertised
and that the appointment of a new chief executive will be further
delayed. It is unacceptable for a body of the size and significance
of the EHRC to operate without a permanent chief executive for
as long as eight months and with there seemingly being no prospect
of an appointment being made until much later in 2010, especially
given the costly interim arrangements. (Paragraph 66)
The Equate consultancy
11. We
welcome the fact that Mr Phillips has now relinquished his controlling
share in the Equate consultancy. It would appear, however, that
it took some time before Mr Phillips was persuaded to take the
action necessary to address the perception of a conflict of interest
caused by his involvement with Equate. We regret that he did not
terminate his involvement with Equate when the issue was first
raised by Dr Brewer. We again suggest to Mr Phillips that his
personal website should be amended to remove references to the
Equate consultancy. (Paragraphs 76 and 77)
Departmental responsibility
12. We
recognise the claims of other departments [than the GEO to sponsor
the EHRC] and recommend that deciding which department has responsibility
for the EHRC should be a first order issue when machinery of government
changes are contemplated. It is not acceptable for human rights
to be an afterthought, as it sometimes appears to have been in
the past. We believe that the Minister for Human Rights and the
sponsoring department for the EHRC should be situated in the same
place. (Paragraph 81)
Conclusion
13. We
regret that Mr Phillips' reappointment was not subject to open
competition. Parliament should have been given the opportunity
properly to scrutinise the Commission's performance under his
leadership. As a consequence of his reappointment, Mr Phillips
is now in a position to demonstrate that he can work with others
and establish the EHRC on a firm footing. (Paragraph 85)
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