Vera Baird (PPS (Rt Hon Charles Clarke, Secretary of State), Home Office; Redcar, Labour)

Briefly, clause 5 requires certain consultations to proceed before the strategic plan that we have just approved in clause 4 is made. It says that the commission must

“consult such persons having knowledge or experience relevant to the Commission’s functions ... consult such other persons as the Commission thinks appropriate”,

and

“issue a general invitation to make representations”

to the broader, less specialist world. It then requires the commission to

“take account of any representations made.”

It seems that the clause requires the commission to take account only of the representations made by the broader world and not of the responses to its consultations under paragraphs (a) and (b). That concerns me slightly, because there seems to be little point in inviting input from experts and then not giving the commission a duty to take account of the response.   I do not know whether the Minister will be able to help me on that matter, but perhaps she understands why I am driven to that conclusion.

Meg Munn (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry; Sheffield, Heeley, Labour)

I shall come to that point shortly, but I thank my hon. and learned Friend for her general views on the clause.

While advancing our proposals to create the commission, we have found there to be strong consensus among stakeholders that engagement, consultation and public involvement in the decisions that the commission takes will be essential if it is to succeed in fulfilling its aims. The Government strongly agree, and the clause imposes a duty on the CEHR to consult.

Without pre-empting the commission, I am sure that we can all think of stakeholders whose input and involvement will be vital. There are, for example, the voluntary and community sector organisations that work on particular equality issues, the business community, trade unions and advice-giving organisations. Those stakeholders have suggested that they are keen to be consulted on equality and human rights issues. That is not enough, however. Equality and human rights matter to everyone, and an inclusive vision of society requires an inclusive consultation to get it right.

The commission will get the full picture only by reaching out widely to consult those who might otherwise be missed and who have important views or ideas that the commission needs to understand. That could include hard-to-reach or vulnerable groups, or those who do not see themselves as part of the traditional equality constituency but who none the less could be discriminated against unlawfully and so would benefit from the protection of discrimination legislation. The clause requires the commission to consult as wide a group of people as is practicable.

I am grateful to my hon. and learned Friend—she often shows us her learning on this issue—for expressing her concern about the clause. I shall seek greater clarification on that point, because it is important, and I shall write to her.

As well as carrying out the consultation, the commission will be obliged to take account of representations made. It will not, however, have limitless resources, and it will not be able to act on stakeholders’ every suggestion and view. It will need to take hard decisions on priorities, and will therefore need to show that it has listened and has taken account of the views of stakeholders in taking those decisions. It will also have to communicate clearly the priorities that it decides. That will allow stakeholders to see from the strategic plan how the commission has responded to them.