Lies, damned lies and the EHRC in Scotland

there are moments when even
a high-decibel use of 'WTF',
with full stops between each
word, is simply inadequate

Sometime the ever helpful safety-valve expletive 'WTF' helps when you read such as the latest exploits or murmurings of the hapless Jeremy Hunt, Health Secretary in England, or stub your toe as you stumble and fumble in the dark towards the bathroom at some unearthly hour in the morning.  And then there are moments when even a high-decibel use of 'WTF', with full stops between each word, is simply inadequate.  This is about one such moment.

Yesterday, the EHRC in Scotland published a report and press release on just how well/badly public bodies in Scotland were doing in meeting new specific equality duties which came into effect in 2012 and required a slew of reports from them to be published by end of April this year.  I have already published research into the performance of the major public bodies in publishing data on their gender pay gaps, and shared it free of charge with the EHRC.  The EHRC press release tells us :

"The Scottish Government introduced these powerful equality duties in 2012 to ensure that public authorities tackle the most pressing inequalities"

And I had always thought the specific duties were introduced to help public bodies meet the general equality duty, which has eliminating discrimination, advancing equality of opportunity and fostering good relations at its core.  See for yourself here on the EHRC web site.  But no, in Scotland the EHRC has decided that is clearly too hard, to challenging, too difficult an objective for public bodies and now they just need to "tackle the most pressing inequalities".  Might be worth checking with the Scottish Parliament's Equal Opportunities Committee [SP EOC] if they are aware of the downgraded equality goals set by the EHRC in Scotland?

the EHRC press release
describes the specific equality
duties as "powerful"

But that isn't the toe stubbing, 'WTF', moment.  It is when the EHRC press release describes the specific equality duties as "powerful".  

Way back in 2011, the Scottish government invited the SP EOC to rubber stamp draft specific equality duties for Scotland.  These had been the subject of a marathon consultation and then an analysis report which conveniently ignored that the majority of respondents who were not public bodies opposed what was on the table.  At the eleventh-hour, some of us decided the stakes were too high and lobbied the SP EOC to seek amendments to the draft and strengthen the duties so that discrimination was eliminated in the years to come.  We were asked to provide evidence at a session of the SP EOC on 8th March 2011 when the minister would also formally move a motion for the Committee to adopt his draft.  You can read here all that was said at the meeting and how the Committee decided to throw out the draft specific duties and invite government to improve on them and on its consultation process and practice.

The day before, the EHRC Scotland Director, Ros Micklem, wrote to the SP EOC.  This letter set out the EHRC's position on the then draft duties and was a heavy handed attempt to bounce the Committee into approving the draft duties:

"We are supportive of the duties as currently framed, being both robust enough for regulation purposes but without being overly prescriptive"

The EHRC went on to point out that any decision to delay the adoption of the specific duties would not :

"be in the best interests of the Scottish people"

So.  The EHRC reckoned then that the draft duties were robust enough and that delaying them would not be in the interests of the Scottish people.

Now?  The interests of the
Scottish people don't rate a mention by the EHRC

Now?  The interests of the Scottish people don't rate a mention by the EHRC, the duties which the EHRC in effect opposed are now "powerful", and the goal posts are unilaterally moved by the EHRC from eliminating discrimination to "tackling the most pressing inequalities".  Joe Stalin would have applauded this capacity for re-writing history and air-brushing inconvenient realities and truths out of the picture.