Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what they consider to be the necessary preconditions for the implementation of section 9(5)(a) of the Equality Act 2010 as provided by section 97 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013; and what timetable they envisage for the fulfilment of those preconditions.

The Government's timetable published in July 2013 set out the steps towards implementation of section 9 (5)(a) of the Equality Act 2010. These steps are (i) EHRC published research; (ii) a public consultation on prospective legislation; (iii) engagement with specific affected groups; (iv) draft Affirmative regulations for public consultation, and (v) Parliamentary debates on the regulations. These pre-conditions for implementation, their sequence and the duration of each step remain the same as in the timetable.

As stated in Lord Ahmad's answer of 6 May to the Noble Lord's Question (HL6447), stage (i) – publication of the EHRC research – has now happened, but stage (ii) – the public consultation on prospective legislation – is now expected to issue in the Autumn.