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Equality Bill [HL]

I, too, support the amendments. Apart from anything else, it is crucial that the rights and interests of children, as children feel   them, should be among the activities of the commission. Amendment No. 8 would help to ensure that the commission had the expertise and vision to promote and protect children’s human rights and deal with children’s equality issues. Like many other organisations and bodies, the commission needs a high-level post holder with a special focus on and understanding of the needs of children. I fear that, without that, children rights and interests will be lost in the large new body. We must also remember that the English Children’s Commissioner has   less strength, let us say, than the other three commissioners. Age equality is the strand that perhaps comes a bit later. It is expected next year. By then, it may be too late to squeeze children into the commission, so having a commissioner who has an interest in and knowledge of children—I do not suggest only that—will ensure that there is someone there right from the beginning. I turn to Amendment No. 75. Equality and diversity are not adult-only concerns; they are central to children too. In October 2002, the Committee on the   Rights of the Child, the international treaty-monitoring body for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, issued concluding observations on the UK. On discrimination, the committee said that it was,"““concerned that the principle of non-discrimination was not fully implemented for all children in all parts of the State party and that unequal enjoyment of economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights still existed, in particular for children with disabilities, children from poor families, Irish and Roma travellers’ children, asylum and refugee children””." So, it is the whole range. I hope that the commission, when it is up and running, will seek to tackle some of the multiple forms of discrimination. At the same time, it is important that the commission have a legal duty to inform children and raise awareness of equality and diversity issues, first so that children and their parents can be informed of their rights and secondly to assist children to understand and respect others. That was said by the noble Lord who moved the amendment. If we want children to contact and use the commission to help remedy discrimination, we must first tell them about their rights and duties. With regard to Amendment No. 84, I would argue that a human rights culture cannot be achieved without the active engagement and education of children. The Commission for Equality and Human Rights will quickly become a body of expertise on human rights as well as equality. After all, it is the commission’s job to promote human rights. It is imperative that that expertise includes children’s human rights and that children and their parents, carers and advocates see that the body is working for them too. Amendment No. 99 would put children into the Bill by addressing and making provision for their information and consultation needs. We cannot begin to expect the commission to serve children well, without placing a duty on it to inform and consult children appropriately about human rights and equality issues. Those are not luxuries; they are the minimum requirement for making sure that the commission works for children.