Equality and Human Rights Commission
Debate between Baroness Hussein-Ece and Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Baroness Vere of Norbiton
I thank the noble Baroness for raising those two issues. On the first, I think she might be referring to my noble friend Lord Shinkwin. His recruitment process took far longer than originally intended and, yes, it has now a reached a situation now where there are ongoing discussions between the chair of the EHRC and my noble friend. The Government value the role of the EHRC and believe that my noble friend has the knowledge, passion and personal background to make a significant contribution. That is why he was chosen by the Secretary of State for the role. In the second case raised by the noble Baroness—I apologise for the long answer but she raised two issues—40 commissioners have been appointed to the EHRC since 2006 and only seven have been reappointed. Individual appointments and reappointments are matters for the Secretary of State. I think the House will agree that there can be no automatic expectation of reappointments for members of any public boards.
Baroness Hussein-Ece (LD)
My Lords, the Government’s own website says that in 2015 the public bodies transformation programme,
“successfully produced fewer, more accountable, more efficient public bodies”,
which were required “to be politically impartial” and were,
“needed to act independently in order to establish facts”.
Given the shambles the noble Baroness, Lady Prosser, has just outlined, does this apply also to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which has a very important job to do?
Baroness Vere of Norbiton
I agree with the noble Baroness that the commission has an important job to do. Perhaps I may mention that when the coalition Government came in in 2010, it was concluded that the commission should be retained but substantially reformed. I would not use the word “shambles”, but it was certainly in some disarray at that time. The commission has now undergone a distinct restructuring and the budget has been reduced so that it can focus on the issues most important to it. The Equality Act 2006 provides for its independence and the investigating commissioners are not employees of the state.
Equality: Hung Parliament
Debate between Baroness Hussein-Ece and Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Baroness Vere of Norbiton
My noble friend is of course quite right, but each and every one of us can apply our own pressure in our own way.
Baroness Hussein-Ece (LD)
My Lords, given what the Minister said about no backsliding on equality, is she aware of how inequalities in the United Kingdom have widened? According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, by 2020 child poverty is set to reach the level at which 5 million children live below the poverty line. Given what she said earlier about arrangements being made for Northern Ireland, can she assure us that there will be sufficient funds available for the rest of the country to ensure that inequalities on this scale do not continue?
Baroness Vere of Norbiton
I thank the noble Baroness for her comment. I think it is well beyond my brief, and indeed my pay grade, to comment on such broad issues, but I am sure she will raise them again.