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News from the Equality and Human Rights Commission
Tuesday 1 July 2025
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Welcome to the latest newsletter from the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
In this edition, you will find a summary of our work in June 2025, including:
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Highlights
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Code of Practice consultation closes
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Thank you to everyone who submitted responses to our public consultation on updates to the Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations. The consultation, which sought views on our updates following the Supreme Court's judgment in For Women Scotland v the Scottish Ministers, has now closed.
We will consider every response carefully and amend the draft Code where necessary.
The final Code will be submitted to the Minister for Women and Equalities for approval and parliamentary review.
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| Read about our work following the Supreme Court ruling |
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International reflections on equality law – Equinet conference
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We were pleased to join Equinet’s conference marking 25 years of equality law this month.
The conference provided important context about the broader international equality landscape, with conversations about rising discrimination statistics and challenges facing civil society organisations. Discussions offered valuable insight into how national equality bodies across Europe are adapting to new challenges.
Events like this help us situate our work in the broader European context and strengthen our approach to equality in Britain.
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| Learn more about our international work |
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Advising Parliament and governments
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Ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting – our recommendations
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We responded to the UK government's consultation on mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting with several recommendations.
Disabled and ethnic minority workers still face pay and employment gaps. We are urging the government to go further than reporting alone.
Our key recommendations include:
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mandatory action plans to accompany pay gap data
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detailed guidance on collecting and analysing sensitive data
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effective enforcement of reporting requirements
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consistent reporting across public bodies in Great Britain
We believe meaningful data, paired with action, can help create fairer workplaces.
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| Read our response to the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill: mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting consultation |
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Digital Inclusion Action Plan – our response
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We responded to the UK government’s call for evidence on its Digital Inclusion Action Plan.
As Britain becomes ever more reliant on digital services to deliver everything from banking and healthcare to public services and employment opportunities, ensuring equal access to online services is more critical than ever.
Whilst focus on digital technology and inclusion can widen opportunity, we recognise that digital inclusion must not disadvantage those who cannot, or choose not to, engage with digital technologies. For government and service providers, this means retaining meaningful non-digital routes to essential services and avoiding policies that create financial penalties for those left offline.
In our consultation response we urged the government to expand the scope of its plan.
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| Find out more about our response to the Digital Inclusion Action Plan call for evidence in our LinkedIn blog post |
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Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry – our evidence
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We gave evidence to the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry during their latest module looking at equalities and human rights impacts. John Wilkes, our Head of Scotland, explained how we worked with governments, parliaments and other stakeholders to ensure that those with protected characteristics were considered in pandemic decision-making processes.
Our evidence considered lessons learned about the equality and human rights impact of the Covid-19 pandemic to help prepare Scottish society for similar challenges in the future.
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| View our evidence session and read our full statement to the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry |
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Scottish Bus Open Data consultation – our response
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We responded to Transport Scotland’s consultation on new secondary legislation about open data. Bus open data is ‘information about buses and bus routes which is published, free of charge and electronically, by bus operators’.
This legislation will define what information must be published, when, and in what format. We want operators to publish data that will improve access to public transport. This is part of our priority work to strengthen participation in society.
Our response focuses on the requirements of the equality legal framework and how complying with these can deliver regulations that meet the needs of all protected characteristic groups.
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| Read our response to the Scottish Bus Open Data consultation |
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Guidance and advice
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New report evaluates UK compliance with international treaty to combat violence against women and girls
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The Council of Europe's Group of Experts on Violence Against Women (GREVIO) has published its report on UK compliance with the Istanbul Convention. The Istanbul Convention is a human rights treaty that aims to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence.
We submitted evidence to GREVIO last March highlighting several areas requiring urgent attention, including:
We will review GREVIO’s report and the UK and Welsh governments’ responses closely. Violence against women and girls can have awful, long-lasting effects. It is essential that more progress is made to permanently remove it from our society.
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| Read our report on the UK and Welsh governments’ performance in upholding the Istanbul Convention |
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| Read the GREVIO report |
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Guidance for tackling race inequalities in maternity care
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We published new research and practical guidance to help health bodies and regulators tackle persistent race inequalities in maternity and neonatal care.
With maternal mortality rates disproportionately affecting Black and Asian women in the UK, there is a pressing need for action.
We undertook research with Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) in England, and have now published:
Our work includes recommended actions for ICBs, GP practices, regulators and ombudsmen. It will support practitioners, policy makers and leaders working to embed equality into maternity care and neonatal outcomes.
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| Read our research with integrated care boards and recommended actions |
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Sign up for our newsletter
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We produce a monthly newsletter including updates on our legal and enforcement action, policy briefings, guidance, research and latest announcements.
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