Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 59
59
We welcome the Government’s intention to focus more on socio-economic and geographic inequality and look...
Recommendation
We welcome the Government’s intention to focus more on socio-economic and geographic inequality and look forward to the publication of its Levelling Up White Paper. While enactment of the socio-economic duty, section 1 of the Equality Act, is unlikely to be a panacea, we recommend the Government commission a pilot to establish the costs and benefits of different approaches to voluntary adoption of the duty in England.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
Reject. We do not believe that a pilot to establish the costs and benefits of different approaches to voluntary adoption of Section 1 of the Equality Act in England is necessary at this time. Before considering the usefulness of a pilot scheme, we would first want to look at any evaluation of how the duty is already working in devolved public bodies and a few English local authorities who have introduced it on a voluntary basis.