Anti-discrimination package announced

Cabinet Office minister Ian McCartney has announced a package of measures to tackle discrimination. He said the government "will act to stamp out discrimination, remove barriers and improve the position of groups facing disadvantage and discrimination in employment, public life and public service delivery".

McCartney pledged that the government would look at its own practices, promising to introduce legislation to oblige public bodies to promote equal opportunities. He also pointed to the forthcoming Race Relations (Amendment) Bill, which follows recommendations from the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, which will extend the current Act to cover law enforcement and immigration (see also page 4).

He declared that "the gender pay gap is indefensible. We will support further action to address this and to achieve greater choice of working patterns". One such proposal was for changes to tribunal proceedings to speed up and simplify equal pay claims.

The Disability Rights Task Force has been looking at the weaknesses in the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and McCartney said that the government would legislate where necessary to implement its recommendations.

Other measures announced include:

* the introduction of a code of practice covering discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation;

* research into the extent of religious discrimination, with results due in the autumn; and

* a code of practice on discrimination against volunteers.

The European Commission has adopted proposals for a directive that would protect workers from discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, age or religion (see page 9).