Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will reintroduce section 138 of the Equality Act 2010 setting out the discrimination and equal pay questionnaire procedure for the collection of information by someone who thinks they may have been unlawfully discriminated against from the person or provider who is thought to be responsible for the unlawful treatment.

Section 138 of the Equality Act 2010 was repealed in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013. The government has no plans to reinstate these provisions. Employees can still put questions to their employer or former employer concerning a claim under the Act if they wish. A Court or Tribunal may consider any relevant questions and answers as part of the evidence of the case, and may draw inferences if questions are not answered. At the time of the repeal ACAS produced a good practice guide with advice on how to do this, which can be found here: https://archive.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4971