APPENDIX 2: EQUALITY BILL [HL] - GOVERNMENT
RESPONSE
Letter from Baroness Ashton of Upholland, Parliamentary
Under Secretary of State at the Department for Constitutional
Affairs, to the Chairman
I am grateful for the Committee's report on the Equality
Bill [HL] (First Report of Session 2005-06) in which the Committee
drew the attention of the House to certain provisions of the bill:
clause 16(3) with respect to codes of practice; and clauses 52(3)
and 65(1) relating to exceptions from provisions prohibiting discrimination
on grounds of religion or belief. I am writing to let you know
that the Government is tabling amendments at Report Stage which
are designed to meet the comments expressed by the Committee.
As regards clause 16(3), the Committee recommended
that revocation of a code of practice issued by the new Commission
for Equality and Human Rights should be subject to the negative
procedure. We are tabling an amendment to clause 41 which achieves
this. We are also tabling an amendment to clause 44 which achieves
the same in respect of codes issued by existing equality Commissions.
As regards clauses 52(3) and 65(1), the Committee
found that the power in clause 65(1) required considerably more
justification. We are tabling amendments which respond to the
Committee's criticism that the clause as currently drafted provides
Henry VIII powers that go too wide. The amendments reduce the
scope of the power in the existing clause 65, which will now be
limited to amending an exception within Part 2 or to provide for
an additional exception to clause 54(1). The order-making power
could therefore no longer be used to remove an exception from
Part 2. The provisions in clause 52(3) have been amended to an
order-making power to make it consistent with clause 65.
11 October 2005
| 
