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Equality Bill

My Lords, I shall speak to government Amendments 44, 45, 57, 58 and 59 and to Amendments 42 and 43. In Committee, in the light of some of the concerns expressed, I decided to withdraw the amendment in order to consider these concerns. Like noble Lords opposite, we believe that the principle of the amendment remains sound. Our intention in this amendment is to identify under-represented groups from the data collected with a view to identifying barriers causing or contributing to that under-representation. First, in dealing with the concerns raised, I assure noble Lords that the Government will fully consult with political parties and others before the regulations, which will be subject to the affirmative procedure, are issued. The regulations will cover, among other things, which protected characteristics the duty will apply to, how a party will publish the data and to which parties the duty will apply. In practice this might mean, for example, that depending on the consultation, only information on candidates’ gender and ethnicity will be published. However, we must consult on those issues. Secondly, in relation to smaller parties, concerns were expressed about how individuals could be identified from the published data. The Data Protection Act 1998 imposes strict safeguards about how the party collects, stores and publishes the data in question. These safeguards will apply in full to the data collected under this amendment. The data will amount to personal data, such as gender, or sensitive personal data, such as disability, as defined in the Act. Sensitive data are given a higher level of protection under the Act. However, all data collected under this amendment will be treated as sensitive data, which means that they will be collected and published only if the explicit consent of the candidate has been obtained. A breach of the Act can result in the party being fined. All data provided voluntarily will be aggregated nationally and anonymised. However, in the unlikely event that individuals could be identified, subsection (5) makes it clear that the party will not be required to publish the data. Thirdly, concerns were raised that this provision could lead to the introduction of quotas by the back door. I take this opportunity to make clear that it does not allow positive action measures that would otherwise be prohibited by the rest of the Bill. However, I appreciate noble Lords’ concerns. I am therefore happy to support Amendment 42 and the related Amendment 43, which makes clear that the positive action in candidate selections allowed by Clause 104 must be proportionate. Parliament has already decided that the use of women-only shortlists is proportionate, hence the provisions in the 2002 Act which we are now extending so that they will apply until 2030. However, we agree that nothing else done under this clause should be subject to an express proportionality requirement. Amendment 45, together with Amendment 59, gives the Equality and Human Rights Commission enforcement powers. Amendment 58 ensures that the regulations will be subject to the affirmative procedure. Amendment 57 provides that the amendment is an exception to the harmonisation provisions since there is no EU law which applies to the amendment. I note the strong support from the Benches opposite, for which I am very grateful. As I stated earlier, the Government are pleased to accept Amendments 42 and 43.