Govt "Red Tape” Opinion Request
on Equality Act 2010
& Sign Co-op Equality Petition
Last week the government launched their Red Tape Challenge website which invites businesses and members of the public to "help us cut unnecessary regulations."
The website includes a section on the recent legislation Equality Act 2010, asking whether it should be scrapped, merged, simplified, improved or left as it is.
A number of people have already posted comments supporting the Equality Act 2010 on the Red Tape Challenge website. Some are questioning its inclusion in a review of red tape and many have made suggestions for how it could be strengthened.
The Equality Trust recommends that to improve these regulations, the government should reinstate and strengthen the socio-economic duty, which was part of the original Equality Act 2010 legislation, but was dropped by the Equalities Minister Theresa May in November 2010.
The socio-economic duty recognised the importance of reducing the income gap - and the role of public bodies in assisting that and The Equality Trust were extremely disappointed when it was abandoned.
To read original article please go to: -
http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/node/556
If you would like to respond to the
Government Red Tape Challenge
by giving your view on the
Equality Act 2010
Equality regulations are designed to help ensure fairness in the workplace and in wider society. They include regulations and laws on discrimination and harassment.
You can find the Equality Act 2010 here:
HM Government - Equality Act 2010 - Easy Read
Tell the government what you think should happen to the Equality Act 2010 and why, being specific where possible:
- Should it be scrapped altogether?
- Can it be merged with existing regulations?
- Can we simplify it – or reduce the bureaucracy associated with it?
- Have you got any ideas to make these regulations better?
- Do you think they should be left as they are?
To give your opinion please go to: -
http://www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/equalities/
Meanwhile the Daily Mirror has
published an article on Inequality,
posted on the Equality Trust website
How the cuts will worsen inequality:
reflections in The Mirror
The Mirror newspaper has highlighted the threat that the government's cuts poses to our already high and damaging level of inequality.
Richard Wilkinson, Emeritus Professor of Social Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham Medical School and co-author of The Spirit Level comments in the paper that the cuts will only increase the demand on public services thereby creating a vicious circle:
"If you cut services, you get more inequality and need more services because you get more mental illness, drug problems, violence and teenage births.”
The article also notes that Co-operatives UK has made inequality the theme of its Co-operatives Fortnight campaign.
The Daily Mirror and The Equality Trust urges people to support the Co-op initiative and sign the Co-op petition designed to get the government to act on inequality.
It is through public support that they will most effectively spread the message that more equal societies are better societies and politicians and policy-makers must act to reduce the gap between rich and poor in the UK.
To read the original article from The Equality Trust please go to:
http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/node/554
To read the original Daily Mirror article:
Co-operative Petition calls for
UK Govt action
to close gap between rich & poor
Co-operatives across the UK are gearing up for the second Co-operatives Fortnight from June 25 to 9 July 2011.
Co-operatives Fortnight is the UK co-operative sector annual campaign. It aims to raise awareness of how co-operatives aim to build a better world and offer a way of doing business in which everyday employees, customers and residents have an equal say in decisions and share the profits.
Sponsored by key businesses in the co-operative sector and co-ordinated by Co-operatives UK, the national trade association for co-operatives, Co-operatives Fortnight ran for the first time in 2010; over 160 events were held, 70,000 people got involved online, 2.3 million people were engaged overall and 43 million people heard about it from the media during its first year.
This year the theme ‘Yours to Share’ represents the shared ownership and the share in profits that makes co-operatives different.
At the centre of this is a petition calling for government action to narrow the gap between rich and poor in the UK.
To sign the Co-operative petition please go to: -