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Equality and Human Rights Commission House of Lords House of Commons Joint Committee on Human Rights Equality and Human Rights Commission Thirteenth Report of Session 2009–10 Report, together with formal minutes and oral and written evidence Ordered by the House of Lords to be printed 2 March 2010 Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 2 March 2010 HL Paper 72 HC 183 [incorporating HC 1842-i and ii of Session 2008-09] Published on 15 March 2010 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £0.00 Joint Committee on Human Rights The Joint Committee on Human Rights is appointed by the House of Lords and the House of Commons to consider matters relating to human rights in the United Kingdom (but excluding consideration of individual cases); proposals for remedial orders, draft remedial orders and remedial orders. The Joint Committee has a maximum of six Members appointed by each House, of whom the quorum for any formal proceedings is two from each House. Current membership HOUSE OF LORDS HOUSE OF COMMONS Lord Bowness Mr Andrew Dismore MP (Labour, Hendon) (Chairman) Lord Dubs Dr Evan Harris MP (Liberal Democrat, Oxford West & Baroness Falkner of Margravine Abingdon) Lord Morris of Handsworth OJ Ms Fiona MacTaggart (Labour, Slough) The Earl of Onslow Mr Virendra Sharma MP (Labour, Ealing, Southall) Baroness Prashar Mr Richard Shepherd MP (Conservative, Aldridge-Brownhills) Mr Edward Timpson MP (Conservative, Crewe & Nantwich) Powers The Committee has the power to require the submission of written evidence and documents, to examine witnesses, to meet at any time (except when Parliament is prorogued or dissolved), to adjourn from place to place, to appoint specialist advisers, and to make Reports to both Houses. The Lords Committee has power to agree with the Commons in the appointment of a Chairman. Publications The Reports and evidence of the Joint Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the two Houses. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the internet at www.parliament.uk/commons/selcom/hrhome.htm. Current Staff The current staff of the Committee are: Mark Egan (Commons Clerk), Chloe Mawson (Lords Clerk), Murray Hunt (Legal Adviser), Angela Patrick and Joanne Sawyer (Assistant Legal Advisers), James Clarke (Senior Committee Assistant), John Porter (Committee Assistant), Joanna Griffin (Lords Committee Assistant) and Keith Pryke (Office Support Assistant). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to The Clerk of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Committee Office, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general inquiries is: 020 7219 2467; the Committee’s e-mail address is [email protected] Equality and Human Rights Commission 1 Contents Report Page Summary 3 1 Introduction 5 2 The EHRC’s human rights work 8 Introduction 8 Human rights vision 9 Assessments of the EHRC’s human rights work 10 Human rights strategy 12 Conclusion 13 3 Governance and leadership 15 Leadership of the Commission 15 Resignations of Commissioners 15 Other perspectives 16 Deloitte review 18 Conclusion 19 The new EHRC board 20 Reappointment of Mr Phillips 21 Terms and conditions 23 The position of chief executive 24 Qualification of the EHRC’s accounts 25 The Equate consultancy 27 Departmental responsibility 28 4 Conclusion 30 Conclusions and recommendations 31 Formal Minutes 34 Witnesses 35 List of written evidence 35 List of unprinted evidence 36 Equality and Human Rights Commission 3 Summary The report of the EHRC’s major human rights inquiry, which was published in June 2009, included numerous recommendations aimed at the Commission itself. We agree with the report’s broad conclusions. As several of our previous inquiries have also found, embedding a culture of human rights in public authorities in the UK would drive service improvements which would benefit ordinary people. The Commission has a major role to play in leading this process. Our concern is with whether the EHRC is doing enough to devise and disseminate a culture of respect for human rights in public authorities, the main aim our predecessors identified for the Commission in their 2003 report on the case for a UK human rights commission. The EHRC published a short human rights strategy in November 2009, in part as a response to the report of its human rights inquiry. In our view, it is too vague. We recommend that a more detailed version be launched later in 2010, after public consultation. We also recommend that the next human rights strategy should be more clearly related to the strategic objectives set out in the EHRC’s overall strategy. Although the EHRC cannot possibly have been expected to transform the way in which public services are delivered within the first two or three years of its existence, the report of the EHRC’s human rights inquiry shows that the Commission had not begun systematically to address this issue. The publication of a human rights strategy is evidence that the EHRC is seeking to approach its responsibilities for human rights matters on a more systematic basis than hitherto; but, in our view, the Commission is not yet fulfilling the human rights mandate set out in the Equality Act. We were also concerned to hear allegations made by a number of former commissioners, who resigned in 2009, about the way in which the body was led by Trevor Phillips. These included suggestions, which are contested by continuing commissioners, that: • the board of commissioners was not functioning as a corporate body; • commissioners felt intimated if they held the Chair to account for his actions; and • perceived conflicts of interest between Mr Phillips’ involvement with a private consultancy firm and his position as Chair of the EHRC had not been adequately dealt with. We also noted that the Commission’s accounts for 2006-08 had been qualified by the Comptroller and Auditor General. In our view, Mr Phillips’ reappointment in 2009 should have been subject to open competition. The Minister for Women and Equality’s decision to reappoint Mr Phillips without any parliamentary involvement could undermine the perceived independence of the Commission and put its accreditation as a national human rights institution at risk. We welcome the fact that Mr Phillips has now relinquished his controlling share in the Equate consultancy but regret that it took him so long to act on the advice he was given. We are concerned that the EHRC continues to operate without a chief executive. This is 4 Equality and Human Rights Commission unacceptable, particularly as there would seem to be no prospect of an appointment being made until much later in 2010. In our view, the Commission’s credibility across the political spectrum would be enhanced if it included at least one commissioner with links to the Conservative Party. Equality and Human Rights Commission 5 1 Introduction 1. The launch of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in October 2007 was an important landmark in the development of the UK’s human rights framework. Our predecessors laid the groundwork for the EHRC with an inquiry into the case for a human rights commission in March 2003. They said “a human rights commission, probing, questioning and encouraging public bodies, could have a real impact in driving forward the development of a culture of respect for human rights.” 1 In scrutinising the legislation which established the Commission, the Committee said:2 The appearance in precise legislative form of the intention to create the [EHRC] represents the most important milestone reached so far in establishing the institutional support which is needed to achieve wider implementation of the Human Rights Act and respect for human rights, particularly within public authorities. With its vision of the achievement of a fairer and more equal society, the Bill is the most important legislative measure for the advancement of human rights in this country since the Human Rights Act itself 2. The EHRC is a non-departmental public body, required to encourage and support the development of a society in which: • people’s ability to achieve their potential is not limited by prejudice or discrimination; • there is respect for and protection of each individual’s human rights; • there is respect for the dignity and worth of each individual; • each individual has an equal opportunity to participate in society; and • there is mutual respect between groups based on understanding and valuing of diversity and on shared respect for equality and human rights.3 3. In relation to human rights, the EHRC must: • promote understanding of the importance of human rights; • encourage good practice in relation to human rights; • promote awareness, understanding and protection of human rights; and • encourage public authorities to comply with section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998, which makes it unlawful for public authorities to act in a way which is incompatible with European Convention rights.4 1 Fourth Report, Session 2002-03, The Case for a Human Rights Commission, HL Paper 67-I, HC 489-I (hereafter Case for a Human Rights Commission) paragraph 239. 2 Sixteenth Report, Session 2004-05, Equality Bill, HL 98, HC 497 (hereafter Equality Bill) paragraph 5. 3 Section 3, Equality Act 2006. 4 Section 9, Equality Act 2006. 6 Equality and Human Rights Commission 4. Bearing in mind that equality is itself a human right recognised in all of the major human rights treaties, we have taken a strong interest in a good deal of the EHRC’s work, inviting the Commission to submit its views to our inquiries and other scrutiny work, and occasionally addressing recommendations to the Commission. When we heard oral evidence from Trevor Phillips, the Chair of the EHRC, in October 2008, we intended this to be the first in a series of annual opportunities to discuss significant human rights issues and the EHRC’s work.
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