New clause 17 - DISCRIMINATION ON THE GROUNDS OF
Equality Bill [Lords]
2:15 pm
Evan Harris (Science, Non-Departmental & Cross Departmental Responsibilities; Oxford West and Abingdon, Liberal Democrat)
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
I do not seek to explore the need to protect transgender people from discrimination in the provision of goods and services, because most of what needs to be said about it was said in previous debates. However, one point not raised previously concerns the Gender Recognition Act 2004. During the passage through the House of that legislation—I was a member of the Committee that considered it—the Joint Committee on Human Rights clearly indicated that it was appropriate for transgender people to be protected in connection with the provision of goods and services and other areas. The Joint Committee said that that Bill could usefully fill an omission, although the Government chose not to take that opportunity to do so. The Government have decided on a number of occasions not to close that gap.
The new clause explores how the Government have chosen to close the gap, which we believe could and should have been closed many years ago. The new clause would make it clear that part III of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 applies also to transgender people. Because trans people are currently excluded from most aspects of the gender duty in so far as it relates to goods and services, the new clause would bring them within the gender duty, because part III currently applies to trans people only for vocational training.
I recognise that the new clause is not a holistic way of dealing with the problem of trans people because it does not provide for exceptions to be made, although I would argue that the need for exceptions is limited, given that exceptions already exist for the provision of separate sex facilities in respect of goods and services, as we heard from the hon. and learned Member for Redcar (Vera Baird). I understand that the Minister might not want to accept the new clause purely because it is not holistic enough to deal with the problem. However, it seeks to explore the way in which the Government seek to meet their obligations.
The Minister will be aware that Council directive 2004/113/EC of 13 December 2004 implements
''the principle of equal treatment between men and women in the access to and supply of goods and services''.
It requires protection to be provided for transgender people by 21 December 2007. My question is simple. Will the Government commit themselves to doing that, will they commit themselves to doing it by that deadline and, if so, how? Having failed to use the vehicle of the Bill, it is not clear whether they will be able to do so in the most appropriate manner by that deadline. It is a question of timing.
There are three approaches that the Government could take. First, they could use this Equality Bill, but by rejecting the amendments tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Romsey and myself, they have indicated that they do not wish to use the Bill, although I live in hope that before Report, the Government will have seen the wisdom and justice of doing so. The other two approaches are to use the single equality Act promised after the discrimination law review and the equalities law, or regulations under section 2(2)(a) of the European Communities Act 1972. As the Minister knows, the directive states that the provisions need to be brought in by 21 December 2007. In cases where there is no primary legislation, legislation exists under the European Communities Act for them to do that quite quickly.
On the possibility of using the single equality Act, in the Committee's debate last Thursday, the Minister promised a Green Paper on discrimination law in the spring of 2006. We all know how long some seasons can last, given not just climate change, but Government deadlines for publication. The worry is that it might not be spring. However, assuming that it is spring—the Minister said a few moments ago in a semi-ironic way that spring can last a long time in relation to the publication of the discrimination law review—in the normal course of events, that might lead to a White Paper, following consultation, around six to nine months later. That brings us, at the earliest, to late 2006, and a Bill perhaps six months after that. We are talking about legislation that is likely to enter Parliament in mid–2007. Because such a Bill will involve various arrangements that will have an impact on other people, there may be delays in bringing in the legislation, and that would be seen as good government and good regulation.
The question is: if the Minister does not use new clause 17, can she be certain that the alternative—the single equality Act—will meet that 21 December 2007 deadline, which is only 107 weeks away? If she does not use the proposal in the new clause, the only alternative to meeting the deadline, other than the one that I have just described, is using the European Communities Act. As she will be aware, the problem is that the use of regulation would allow goods and services protection to extend only as far as the extent of the directive, and no further. It would not, for example, include education, which is a key issue for many transgender people who return to education following their change of gender, or the content of media and advertising, which are excluded under article 3(3) of the 2004 directive. Although the directive itself does not prevent Parliament from enacting more comprehensive provisions, use of the European Communities Act's regulation-making power reduces the scope. I do not believe—the Minister may agree, but I wait to see—that the use of the European Communities Act is a satisfactory alternative to bringing in this protection. I am seeking from her an indication of how she will meet the deadline if she does not use the Bill. If she cannot give that, my hon. Friends and I, and others, may wish to return to the matter on Report, to seek to draw her out further. I would be grateful for her response to my remarks.