Single equality body will start work in 2006

The new single equality body that will enforce all areas of anti-discrimination law will not be up and running until 2006, and some are concerned that this will give rise to confusion in the meantime.

The government announced last month that it would go ahead with a new equality body, provisionally called the Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR).

It will replace existing equality watchdogs the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), the Commission for Racial Equality and the Disability Rights Commission.

The new commission will promote equality and enforce legislation in relation to gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, age and religion or belief. And it will also promote human rights in the public sector.

However, while many have welcomed the new commission, there are also reservations about its ability to enforce the law in the absence of harmonised equality legislation.

In addition Stonewall, which campaigns for legal equality for lesbians and gays, is concerned that the commission would not be set up until 2006. It said the new laws in place from next month banning discrimination at work on the grounds of sexual orientation needed a body to enforce them if they were to be effective.

* The EOC's revised Code of Practice on Equal Pay comes into force on 1 December 2003. It explains and provides practical guidance on how to ensure pay is determined without sex discrimination. The code is available on the EOC's website at www.eoc.org.uk.