Select committee: Women and Equalities Committee
Conclusion 27
Fifth report: Unequal impact? Coronavirus and the gendered economic impact
Published 9 Feb 2021
Paragraph 125
Addressed to Government Equalities Office
Women and Equalities Committee Unequal impact? Coronavirus and the gendered economic impact All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
We were concerned to hear the Minister for Equalities repeatedly refer to considering the effects of policies “in the round” in response to questions about the gendered impact of the Government’s policies. We are deeply concerned that a GEO Minister should appear dismissive of the imperative to consider the effects of policies on those with protected characteristics under the Equality Act. Such consideration is a legal requirement clearly set out in the Act’s Public Sector Equality Duty. While we acknowledge that the Government intends to take a “new approach to tackling inequality”, it has a continuing legal duty to ensure its policies and decisions do not adversely affect groups of people with protected characteristics. We are scrutinising the Government’s “new approach to fairness” in a separate inquiry.
From: Women and Equalities Committee, Fifth report: Unequal impact? Coronavirus and the gendered economic impact (HC 385), paragraph 125, 9 February 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 14 May 2021.