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*Apologies for cross-posting* Equality Challenge Unit Briefing The Equality Bill - Impact on Higher Education On the 26 June 2008 Harriet Harman, Minister for Women and Equality, made a statement in the House of Commons setting out the main themes of the Equality Bill which will be announced in the Queen's speech in November and is due for publication in Spring 2009. While the Commons statement may not have contained much fine detail, it did make certain priorities clear. An Equality Duty The document confirms that a new 'Equality Duty' on public bodies will replace the current race, disability and gender duties. The new streamlined duty will cover not only those three areas, but also gender reassignment, age, sexual orientation and religion and belief. The Government will be discussing with relevant organisations how the new duty will work in practice, especially in relation to religion and belief. What this is likely to mean for higher education institutions is that they will need to take proactive steps to eliminate any unlawful discrimination against both staff and students on the new grounds, and probably also take steps to promote good relations for those groups and also between the groups. This would not require institutions to arbitrate between the different interests of - for example - certain fundamentalist religious groups and gay and lesbian staff and students. But it might provide a clearer and more transparent framework in which consensus could be sought. In many respects, the higher education sector is well-positioned for the new duty. It is already unlawful for institutions to discriminate against not just staff but also students, so the impact on the sector may be less than for other sectors where the law has only to date extended to staff issues. Further, many institutions are already actively engaged in ensuring that their institutions attract and engage with students of all ages and that students from different religious backgrounds are supported. A duty to promote good relations between the groups is already something that is integral to many institutions' approaches to promoting good campus relations. But where the duty is likely to have impact is in terms of requiring a more systematic and evidence based approach to all the equality areas. Engaging with issues such as the impact of religion or sexual orientation on campus will no longer be optional or just a question of 'good practice', but will require a more strategic and systematic approach. Working with a range of higher education institutions, Equality Challenge Unit has already anticipated the extension of the public sector duties to all the equality areas: * The UUK/GuildHE/ECU publication Promoting Good Campus Relations, 2007 sets out advice and guidance, with many case studies from existing practice within institutions, of the promotion of good relations across all equality areas. This publication was extended in 2008 to focus specifically on issues of religion and belief; * The Unit has recently commissioned the University of Leeds to carry out research into what the barriers are, if any, faced by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender staff and students in higher education which will assist institutions in determining what the priorities might be in terms of complying with the duty in relation to issues of sexual orientation (anticipated publication date January 2009); * Trans Staff and Students in Higher Education published in 2008 describes the steps that institutions might choose to take to support members of staff or students who have decided to change their gender, again illustrated with extensive case studies of inclusive practice from the sector. * General Guidance Note on Age and Student Issues, 2006, contains advice and case studies of a range of good practice in relation to age issues on campus. Positive Action The Bill will look to extend the scope of 'Positive Action' to allow institutions to take under-representation into account when selecting between two equally qualified candidates in the area of staff recruitment. This provision will be optional, not mandatory. It is likely to prove one of the most controversial elements of the new Bill. This power is already in use elsewhere in Europe, and for example in Scandinavian universities it is now common to see advertisements which state that 'priority will be given to a person of an underrepresented sex (in this case women), when applicants are otherwise equal.' The difficulty is that in practice it is unusual for applicant to be 'equal' and it remains to be seen how and in what ways higher education institutions might choose to use the new powers. It is disappointing that the Statement does not suggest that the positive action provision should extend to students. This is an area where institutions have expressed a need to have more freedom in treating different groups of students differently to enable them to compensate for past disadvantage, for example by offering student bursaries to underrepresented Black and Minority Ethnic applicants. Equality Challenge Unit has previously raised this issue with Government in their response to the Government's original consultation (available on the ECU website www.ecu.ac.uk), and will continue to make this point prior to the Bill being published. Pay Audits A great deal of joint work relating to equal pay has already been conducted, with employers and unions working together across the sector to achieve equal pay practices. Pay already forms an integral part of the Framework Agreement process, and for many institutions data on the pay gap is already in the public domain. Institutions will be expected to conduct equal pay job evaluation audits and publish the percentage difference in the average pay of men and women. It remains to be seen whether the percentage difference that is required to be published will include all pay, including market supplements, ex gratia payment and bonuses, and merit pay. Procurement The Bill will also be placing a duty on some private companies in relation to procurement, and will look to private companies working with institutions to produce audits showing the extent of their gender pay gap, as well as the proportions of their staff that come from ethnic minorities or who are disabled. This information may then impact on the institutions' engagement with the private provider, and feed into their approach to the new equality duty. Next steps A more comprehensive paper on the content of the Bill, and the Government's response to the consultation, Discrimination Law Review; A Framework for Fairness: Proposals for a Single Equality Bill for Great Britain' will be published by the Government Equality Office shortly. This will offer more clarity on details for implementation of the Bill and the time allowed for institutions to review their practices. Equality Challenge Unit will continue to work with the sector to clarify the implications of the Bill for the sector. The Unit have launched an Equality Bill homepage <http://www.ecu.ac.uk/guidance/general/single-equality-bill/index.htm> containing information on developments of the Bill and their relevance to the Higher Education Sector. About the Equality Challenge Unit Equality Challenge Unit supports the higher education sector in its mission to realise the potential of all staff and students whatever their race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion and belief, or age, to the benefit of those individuals, higher educations institutions and society For further information and advice on equality and diversity in higher education T: +44 (0) 20 7438 1010 E: [log in to unmask] www.ecu.ac.uk <http://www.ecu.ac.uk/> Anna Roberts Communications Manager Equality Challenge Unit 7th Floor, Queens House 55/56 Lincoln's Inn Fields London, WC2A 3LJ Tel: +44 (0)20 7438 1010 Fax: +44 (0)20 7438 1011 DDI: +44 (0)20 7438 1018 Email: [log in to unmask] Web: www.ecu.ac.uk <http://www.ecu.ac.uk/> ________________________________________________________________ Equality Challenge Unit Company limited by guarantee, number 05689975 Registered charity, number 1114417 Registered office: 7th floor, Queens House, 55/56 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3LJ, United Kingdom. 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