Great Britain - Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)
Great Britain: Equality and Human Rights Commission
- Overview
The Equality and Human Rights Commission enforces equality legislation on age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. It encourages compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998 and is accredited by the UN as an ‘A status’ National Human Rights Institution.
- Brief history
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (the Commission) is a statutory body established under the Equality Act 2006.The Commission was launched on 1 October 2007, following the merger of the former Equal Opportunities Commission, Commission for Racial Equality, and the Disability Rights Commission.
The Commission operates independently to encourage equality and diversity, eliminate unlawful discrimination, and protect and promote human rights. Our sponsor government department is the Home Office (Ministry of the Interior).
Britain is fortunate to have a strong equality and human rights legal framework to protect people from discrimination and violations of their basic rights and freedoms. However, the experiences of many people across England, Scotland and Wales often do not reflect what is set out in law.
It is the Commission’s role to make these rights and freedoms a reality for everyone. We use a range of powers to do so, by providing advice and guidance to individuals, employers and other organisations, reviewing the effectiveness of the law and taking legal enforcement action to clarify the law and address significant breaches of rights.
Further details on achievements over the last 10 years available at the following address: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/what-we-do/our-achievements.
- Mandate type
- Predominantly promotion-type and legal support body
- Litigation powers
- Representing in front of courts
- Bringing proceedings in own name
- Intervening before the court
- Activities
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Activities aimed at supporting vulnerable groups (e.g. through trainings) yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes Activities aimed at supporting duty bearers such as employers and service providers (e.g. through trainings, guidance material, practical support, etc.) yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes Communication activities (e.g. awareness raising campaigns) yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes Recommendations on discrimination issues yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes Publications and reports yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes Research projects (including surveys) yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes - Other informations about your activities
Additional activities:
Building capacity in other organisations to help them to effect change;
Conducting inquiries to explore systemic issues, gather evidence and develop possible solutions;
Monitoring the effectiveness of the laws protecting people’s rights to equality and human rights, and measuring progress in society;
Using our strategic enforcement powers selectively to protect people against serious and systemic abuses of their rights and to clarify equality and human rights law;
Providing expert advice to the UK and Scottish Parliaments and Welsh Assembly through parliamentary briefings with recommendations to improve legislation protecting human rights and equality.- Our institution has a mandate to deal with:
- Violence against women
- UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
- Hate crime
- Hate speech
- Other statistics
-
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Number of inquiries handled per year (all contact even if not resulting in a formal complaint) no data no data no data no data no data no data no data no data no data no data Number of cases handled per year (case files opened and processed according to your procedures) 38 17 14 15 11 10 38 144 133 no data Number of media appearances per year (major newspapers/magazines/websites/blogs, TV + radio channels) - does not include social media no data no data no data no data no data 5400 6838 no data no data no data - Other informations about the statistics
Please note that all figures are for financial years, i.e. April to March, rather than calendar years.
Regarding the number of cases handled per year, these figures reflect the number of times that EHRC agreed or agreed in principle to the use of our litigation or enforcement powers, even if the matter subsequently did not proceed or a decision was later revoked, or in the case of litigation, settled or concluded without a hearing. The figures do not include regulatory or compliance letters that we send out which have been resolved informally or concluded without formal action.
Regarding the media request figures above, these represent news items across national and regional press, broadcast and online media, which we have been collecting since 2015.
- Management
- Collegiate headed equality body (led by a distinct board/commission)
- Management details
Strategic direction is given by the Board of Commissioners led by the Chair. The Board is responsible for approving the strategic plan, monitoring performance against the plan and ensuring appropriate systems of governance, accountability and control.
- Additional details
The EHRC has a dual role as NEB (National Equality Body) and NHRI (National Human Rights Institution).
The EHRC works in conjunction with the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, the Scottish Human Rights Commission and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC).
- Procedure for nomination and appointment of management and board
Commissioners are recruited by open competition for a time limited period.
Senior staff members are recruited by open competition.
- Number of staff dealing with equality issues
-
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 517 376 218 201 205 201 193 172 189 no data - Other informations about your staff
Please note the 2010 figure includes transition staff and the helpline. The former group of staff were part of the EHRC as a result of the merger of the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Commission for Racial Equality and the Disability Rights Commission, hence once the merger was complete the number of staff reduced. The helpline is no longer part of the EHRC, and is now called the Equality Advice and Support Services Helpline.
- Grounds and fields of discrimination covered by the equality body
Grounds / Fields Employment Education Housing Social Protection & Healthcare Goods & Services Other Gender yes yes yes yes yes Gender Identity yes yes yes yes yes Race and Ethnic Origin yes yes yes yes yes Age yes yes yes yes yes Disability yes yes yes yes yes Sexual Orientation yes yes yes yes yes Religion & Belief yes yes yes yes yes Other grounds : Pregnancy and Maternity Marriage and Civil Partnership
- Mandate covers:
- Public sector
- Private sector
- Operating budget in euros
- Operating budget in euros for the parts of the organisation dealing with equality issues (all types of functions).
- Other informations about your operation budget
Please note that the operating budget figures are for financial years, i.e. April to March, rather than calendar years.
- Additional information
We are 100% funded from central government.
- We are accountable to:
- National Ministry
Main Informations
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