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Equality Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am sorry that I have to disagree with the noble Lord, Lord Ouseley, whose period as chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality overlapped for a time with my period as chairman of the Equal Opportunities Commission. However, given the nature of the new commission and the number of strands that it will have to cover, I think that the recommendations in the amendments put forward by my noble and learned friend the Lord Chancellor give the commission the best possible chance of attaining a balanced membership, as opposed to the proposals in the noble Lord’s amendments, which could, in effect, take up three-quarters of the total membership of the commission. I know that it is possible for one person to be both a member of an ethnic community and a woman; nevertheless, under the terms of the noble Lord’s amendment, it is possible that three-quarters of the commission could be taken up by places allocated not to individuals but to the strands covered by the commission. From my experience as chairman of the Equal Opportunities Commission working with two governments, one of each colour, I feel that the commission, and the chairman in particular, should be adequately consulted about the needs of the commission. I feel absolutely confident that that would happen under the proposed new structure. So I thank and support my noble and learned friend the Lord Chancellor for the whole range of amendments that he has brought before us this afternoon. They have my complete support.