In a Green Paper launched today the Government sets out proposals for a Single Equality Bill for Great Britain. The full condoc runs to 190 pages, but a 20-page summary is also available as a pdf download. The proposals have been developed as a result of the Discrimination Law Review, launched in February 2005 to consider the opportunities for creating a clearer and more streamlined discrimination legislative framework which produces better outcomes for those who currently experience disadvantage.

The consultation is led by the Department for Communities and Local Government, although several departments including the DWP are co-sponsors (Aries comment: it’s good to see the DWP involved from the start, this time). Responses, preferably via email, are requested by 4 September 2007.

Already the proposals have attracted controversy, for example the plan to outlaw discrimination by private clubs with more than 24 members - although there might be an exception for those set up to cater for a particular age range, such as pensioners' associations.

Readers will be relieved to learn that it is proposed to retain the exceptions in the Age Regulations permitting ages to be fixed for entry to occupational pension schemes, or entitlement to retirement or disability benefits. The Government has not forgotten that "they were developed after careful consideration of views put forward by stakeholders through the consultation process" (p.48). Insurers will still be allowed to treat people differently on grounds of age, "provided this treatment is reasonable and based on actuarial or other data or information from a source on which it was reasonable to rely" (p.49).

The condoc is accompanied by a mercifully brief (9 pages) draft of The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (Amendment) Regulations 2007, from which the word "pension" is absent. However, Regulation 16 is relevant: it amends section 45 of the 1975 Act (insurance) to specify the circumstances under which insurance companies may charge different premiums or offer different benefits to men and women, in the areas with which the Directive is concerned.

Draft Reg 16 states that discrimination will not be unlawful if—

1. in the case of discrimination under a contract entered into after 21st December 2007 which relates to differences in premiums and benefits, each of the following conditions is satisfied—
   1. the use of sex as a factor in the assessment of risk is based on relevant and accurate actuarial and statistical data;
   2. the data referred to in paragraph (i) are compiled, published (whether in full or in summary form) and regularly updated in accordance with guidance issued by the Treasury;
   3. the differences in treatment are proportionate having regard to the data in paragraph (i);
   4. the differences do not result from costs related to pregnancy or the fact that a woman has given birth at any time in the period of [52] weeks ending on the day the treatment occurs or begins; or
2. insurance or related financial services are provided only to members of one sex in relation to risks which only affect that sex.”

Administration of Additional Paternity Leave and Pay

The DTI is currently consulting on this related theme. This consultation paper [PDF] on the administration of Additional Paternity Leave and Pay follows commitments made in the November 2006 Government Response to the consultation on Additional Paternity Leave and Pay in March 2006.

Additional Paternity Leave and Pay will enable employed fathers to take up to 26 weeks Additional Paternity Leave, some of which can be paid if the mother of the child has returned to work. This new provision will be available during the second six months of the child's life, providing parents with more choice in child care responsibilities and for the first time ever, the option of dividing a period of paid leave entitlement between them.

The purpose of this consultation is to invite practical comments on the preferred administration process and some of the remaining detail of the scheme to ensure that burdens on business are minimised, whilst providing more choice for parents and allowing fathers a greater opportunity to be involved in raising a child.

Although the potential impact on employers might seem quite alarming, the Government estimates, based on analysis of the Maternity and Paternity Rights 2005 Survey [PDF], that initial take-up will be between 4 per cent and 8 per cent of eligible fathers. However, it should be noted that the experience in other countries which have introduced post-maternity leave for fathers is that take-up gradually increases over time.