Building a society that is Equally Ours – a manifesto for the next Government

A good and strong society is a just and inclusive one. One where we are free
from harm and can all contribute and flourish, whoever we are.

Equally Ours is the national network of organisations committed to making a reality of
equality and human rights in people’s lives. We and our members come from and work for
communities and people experiencing inequality and a lack of respect for our rights. We
have a unique pan-equality and intersectional understanding of the causes and effects of
the most significant challenges facing people in the UK.

Equality and human rights provide the tools for the next Government to take effective,
lasting action to address these challenges, from the cost-of-living crisis, communities and
services still harmed by the legacy of COVID, affordable and accessible accommodation,
respect and dignity at work and freedom from violence and abuse.

We call on all political parties and candidates to commit to creating a more compassionate
and resilient UK that cares about people, justice, and our planet.

The first one hundred days of government are a critical time to lay the path for their long
term intentions and create quick wins. The next UK Government should:

  1. Make a statement in Parliament committing to:
  • being an active and committed member of the European Convention on Human
    Rights and the Council of Europe;
  • protecting the human rights of everyone in the UK, equally; and
  • incorporating our international human rights commitments into domestic law, such
    as our everyday rights.
  1. Appoint a Secretary of State for Equality and Human Rights, responsible for a strong and
    joined up Equality and Human Rights Hub in the Cabinet Office, and held to account by a
    House of Commons Select Committee on Equality and Human Rights.
  2. Work in partnership with civil society to hold a summit to determine priority actions for a
    new cross-government Equality and Human Rights Strategy, including on climate
    breakdown.
  3. Commence the socio-economic duty and protection against multiple discrimination in the
    Equality Act 2010 through a simple statutory instrument.
  4. Advance people’s equality through financial decision making, by publishing a robust
    assessment of the equality impacts of its first spending review and budget.

Over the course of the next parliament, the next Government must harness
investment to increase people’s equality.

Covid-19 brought home just how important our shared humanity is, and that we have a
responsibility to build a society that works for us all. But the subsequent dramatic rises in
the cost-of-living compounded the harms of the pandemic.

The next Government must harness its investment and spending to address the
disproportionate and cumulative socio-economic impacts of Covid-19 and the increased
cost-of-living on the women, Black and minoritised race and faith communities, disabled
people, older people, children and young people, and others hit hardest by them.

It must act to dismantle the structural basis of these inequalities. It can do this by ensuring
our everyday rights – a decent job and enough to live on, a place we can call home, the
opportunity to learn, a healthy environment, and a safety net when we most need it. These
are the essential ingredients for a good life. The next UK Government should:

  • Provide long-term investment in social infrastructure and a green caring economy,
    putting social and environmental indicators on a par with financial measures of growth
  • Harness state spending to advance equality by bringing into force the socio-economic duty and strengthen duties to advance equality in financial decision making.
  • Re-build our welfare safety net so that it provides a springboard for us all to thrive
  • Create a fairer housing system, with a fair rental market, inclusive and accessible
    housing design, along with a planning system free from discrimination against
    Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people and that respects the right to pursue a nomadic way of life.
  • Tackle the structural inequalities in health and social care that resulted in the devastating unequal impact from COVID.
  • Extend gender pay gap reporting to incorporate ethnicity and disability, include
    progression, and require action plans to reduce inequality.
  • Harness state spending on physical and social infrastructure and the environment to
    address the persistent labour market discrimination that holds back women, Black
    and minoritised race and faith communities, disabled people, and disadvantaged
    young, older and LGBT+ people.
  • Provide a successor to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and build on the Community
    Wealth Fund. This should provide locally led funding in deprived areas, including for
    communities who experience discrimination in the labour market. It should be
    designed in partnership with equality groups and other charities and devolved
    administrations.
  • Create a single enforcement body for the labour market, with powers that
    complement the strategic role of the Equality and Human Rights Commission,
    including an explicit mandate to enforce individuals’ rights under the Equality Act
    2010.
  • Recognise that violence against women and girls is a human rights violation and
  • adopt a comprehensive, whole-society approach that looks beyond the criminal
  • justice system and centres those who face the greatest barriers to support and
  • protection.
  • In partnership with civil society, develop and publish an up-to-date National Hate
    Crime Action Plan.
  • Legislate for parity and clarity in hate crime law, levelling up protections for disabled
    and LGBT+ victims, based on the Law Commission’s 2021 recommended reforms.

The law must provide a structure for us all to be recognised and treated as equal
in dignity and rights.

Laws, and the political and public discourse around them, influence people’s attitudes, and
the policies, actions and decisions of public bodies, employers and service providers in ways that can either benefit or harm people’s lives.

We want a society where all people and institutions are subject to and accountable to the
law. Where the legal system underpins and promotes the rights and freedoms of everyone
and is available to us all. Where laws are created with effective scrutiny from Parliament
and civil society. Where the Government and civil society work together towards a just and
inclusive society built on the firm foundations of equality and human rights.

To be effective, the public and public bodies must understand and be able to access their
rights and duties under equality and human rights laws. The burden of enforcement should
not sit solely with the people and communities experiencing inequality and violations of
rights.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is the national equality body for England,
Wales and Scotland and the national human rights institution for England and Wales. It has
a unique set of enforcement powers and a vital strategic role in securing equality and
human rights in the UK. Despite this, it has been undermined over the years since it was
created.5 The new government must reverse this decline.

The next UK Government must:

  • Commit to remaining a member of the European Convention on Human Rights and
    to securing the rights in the Human Rights Act to everyone within the UK, without
    discrimination.
  • Repeal the Illegal Migration Act and the Safety of Rwanda Act, both of which allow
    the Government to violate our human rights and undermine the rule of law.
  • Repeal the provisions of the Police Act 2022 that criminalise Gypsy, Roma and
    Traveller communities and undermine the right to a home.
  • Secure access to our everyday rights to everyone within the UK by incorporating our
    international human rights commitments into national law and develop a plan of
    action for integrating these rights into all public services and policies. These include
    our economic, social and cultural rights, Children’s Rights, Women’s Rights, Race
    Equality, Older People’s Rights, and the Rights of Disabled People.6
  • Deliver the long overdue Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland.
  • Renew our democracy by ensuring legislation receives effective scrutiny from inside
    and outside of Parliament.
  • Proactively raise awareness of our human rights and support a public dialogue on
    how they can be fully realised that is grounded in equality and justice.
  • Introduce non-means tested legal aid for equality and human rights cases,
    recognising that enforcement is a public good.
  • Abandon the planned re-introduction of discriminatory employment tribunal fees.
  • Have enhanced independence in the appointment of the Board and Chair.
  • Be accountable to Parliament, not to a Government Department and Minister that it
    is itself tasked with holding to account.
  • Have the power to issue fines for breaches of the Equality Act 2010, and the ability
    and resources to quickly build a critical mass of enforcement that can create a
    culture of equality and non-discrimination.
  • Have the resources to deliver the full range of its functions.
  • Have a strong and trusted relationship with civil society.

The next UK government must address the fact that climate breakdown affects
different groups and people unequally.

The detrimental effects of climate breakdown and extreme weather events in the UK vary
greatly between groups of people and communities, both between and within countries.
Central to the concept of climate justice is the recognition that the most marginalised
people and those who have contributed the least to climate change, are now bearing the
brunt of its impacts.

As we saw with the Covid-19 pandemic, the impacts of any crisis are worse for people who
are already disadvantaged by our society. This means Black and minoritised race and faith
communities, women, older people, children and young people, Disabled people, refugees
and migrants, marginalised LBGT+ people, working class and poor people.

The next UK Government must ensure a rights-based approach is embedded in planning for tackling the climate emergency, placing disadvantaged and marginalised people and our organisations at the centre of decision making.

An effective and credible plan to tackle the climate emergency must secure the right to a
clean, healthy and sustainable environment, including the ambition that everyone is able
to:

  • Share the benefits of homes that are healthy, economical, and warm.
  • Have workplaces that are more energy efficient with decent well-paid and secure jobs.
  • Access the skills and training to transition to a green economy.
  • Have a secure energy supply which is more local, clean, flexible and affordable.
  • Use transport that is sustainable, accessible, affordable, integrated and low emission.
  • Enjoy nature and landscapes that are rich, diverse and improved.

4. A government that can deliver on its promises

The new government must strengthen the machinery of government to
stimulate and drive change.

Driving change across Government

Equally Ours welcomed the creation of an Equality Hub at the centre of Government. The
next UK Government must build on this progress, empowering the hub with the role,
responsibility and resourcing to drive equality and human rights change across Government.

To achieve this, it should introduce a cross-government National Equality and Human
Rights Strategy, developed in partnership with civil society and with an accompanying
annual action plan that includes:

  • Explicit, strategic objectives, that have equal ranking in Government alongside
    economic objectives.
  • Dedicated strategies and/or action plans on the inequalities and rights breaches
    experienced by specific groups and communities – including strategies on race
    equality and disability rights, children’s rights and the introduction of the long-awaited strategy to tackle inequalities facing Gypsy, Roma and Traveller
    communities.
  • Commitment to action on structural inequality, recognising intersectional and
    cumulative impacts
  • Embedding of equality and our everyday rights into budgets and public spending
  • Invest in developing and strengthening national and grassroots equality and human
    rights infrastructure and these organisations’ capacity to take part in national and
    local decision making

This Strategy must be driven by:

  • A strong Equality and Human Rights Hub at the centre of Government.
  • A Secretary of State for Equality and Human Rights.
  • A Cabinet Committee for equality and human rights, securing cross-government
    commitment.

Accountability

Parliament must similarly be empowered to hold the Government to account for its
performance on equality and human rights. Parliament should create a cross-cutting Select
Committee of the House of Commons, appointed to examine cross-government policy on
human rights, equality, including pan-equality issues, and socio-economic inequality,
geographic disparities and social mobility.

Signed:

Equally Ours Members:
Age UK
Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE)/Just for Kids Law
Disability Rights UK
Discrimination Law Association
End Violence Against Women Coalition
Equality Trust
Fawcett Society
Friends, Families and Travellers
Gender Identity Research and Education Society (GIRES)
Humanists UK
Law Centres Network
Maternity Action
Mind
Race on the Agenda (ROTA)
Royal National Institute for Deaf People
Royal National Institute of Blind People
Runnymede Trust
SignHealth
Stonewall
Trades Union Congress (TUC)
Traveller Movement
Women’s Budget Group
Women’s Resource Centre

Associate members
Amnesty International UK
Equal Rights Trust
EqualiTeach
Inclusion North
Just Fair
Migrant Centre NI
René Cassin
National Survivor User Network (NSUN)

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