Ensuring an effective framework to protect equality and human rights

Protecting and promoting equality and human rights law is central to our role, along with providing a strong and reliable evidence base on the most urgent equality and human rights issues.

black wooden d and c bookshelf

Our work

three people riding speedboat

Illegal Migration Bill

In 2023, the Government introduced the Illegal Migration Bill into Parliament. We issued a statement stating our position on the proposed legislation.

book lot on black wooden shelf

Bill of Rights

In 2022, we responded to Government proposals in the Bill of Rights Bill to reform the Human Rights Act.

Business plan 2023/24

This business plan describes what we will do under the Effective Legal Framework priority from April 2023 to March 2024.

Promoting the understanding of, and compliance with, human rights and equalities law, including responding to serious and / or systemic breaches, where the breach does not fall within the remit of one of our other areas of focus

Our long-term goal:

Ensuring that individuals do not experience discrimination or breaches of their rights.

How we will do it:

We will evidence the issues by:

  • working with the Equality and Advisory Support Service and other agencies to source intelligence and legal referrals
  • submitting reports to UN treaty reviews required in 2023/24
  • identifying cases that we can respond to and support through our Race Support Fund

We will influence standard setting by:

  • collaborating on projects that enhance civil society capacity to engage with international human rights work

We will enforce the law by:

  • identifying opportunities to take legal action to advance and protect human rights by clarifying or establishing important legal tests, strengthening the interpretation of international human rights law in UK case law and promoting public authorities’ compliance with human rights law
man writing on paper

Using regulatory levers, including the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), to ensure that public bodies comply with their duties in relation to equality and human rights

Our long-term goal:

Ensuring that individuals with protected characteristics are not unduly disadvantaged.

How we will do it:

We will evidence the issues by:

  • evaluating the impact of the implementation of the socio-economic duty in Scotland and Wales

We will influence standard setting by:

  • advising the UK, Welsh and Scottish governments on the PSED specific duties, and reviewing our guidance based on any changes 

We will ensure compliance with standards by:

  • promoting the findings of our work to understand the impact of the PSED and promoting further compliance with the duty through guidance, advice and training
  • monitoring the Home Office’s plan to improve their PSED compliance
  • contacting bodies newly listed in Scotland under the PSED to ensure they embed equalities considerations and compliance from the outset
  • develop a memorandum of understanding with the Scottish Funding Council to advance equality in higher and further education
  • support the HMI Prosecutions (Scotland) inspection of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s policy and practice on sexual history evidence

We will enforce the law by:

  • focusing on serious and systemic behaviours that are in breach of equality and human rights
  • identifying opportunities to take legal action to ensure public services are improving equality of opportunity and fulfilling their duties in relation to the PSED
red yellow and white flag

Providing advice to governments and stakeholders with a view to maintaining and strengthening the equality and human rights legal frameworks

Our long-term goal:

Strengthening the equality and human rights legal framework that protects people from discrimination and breaches of their rights, and individuals have access to redress.

How we will do it:

We will influence standard setting by:

  • conducting further work to achieve greater clarity in the Equality Act
  • advising governments about how to ensure that the equality and human rights legal framework is maintained and, where possible, strengthened
  • advising the Scottish Government through the passage of the Misogyny and Criminal Justice Bill
  • advising the governments of Britain as proposals arise about human rights treaty incorporation
  • engaging with specific public inquiries, such as the Sheku Bayoh inquiry

We will ensure compliance with standards by:

  • reviewing and updating our statutory Code of Practice that covers services, public functions and associations and related guidance
brown concrete building near body of water during daytime

Providing government and stakeholders with high quality, reliable and accessible data and evidence in relation to equality and human rights in Great Britain

Our long-term goal:

Reducing inequality through actions taken by governments, public authorities and others to tackle inequality based on data and evidence.

How we will do it:

We will evidence the issues by:

  • publishing our Statutory Report on equality and human rights developments since 2018, and associated products, including nation reports for Scotland and Wales
  • following up on the survey of public attitudes to human rights
  • working with partners to clarify and provide advice about data collection on the protected characteristic of sex

We will ensure compliance with standards by:

  • developing our Human Rights Tracker as a tool for holding governments to account for their human rights reporting
people walking on street during daytime