Cameron's bonfire for equality

The Government’s Red Tape Challenge is aimed at weeding out unnecessary bureaucracy. But, says Ruth Patrick, there could also be casualties which could rob disabled people of rights

The coalition Government has announced a massive review of legislation and red tape, promising to weed out needlessly bureaucratic rules and regulations that get in the way of people going about their everyday lives. To assist them in identifying offending pieces of “red tape” the Government has launched a shiny new website, inviting the public to comment on what should stay, go and be overhauled – a legislative equivalent of Big Brother. So far, so unsurprising.

However, in a bizarre move the Government has included the equalities legislation within the bundle of “general regulations” to be considered during the Red Tape Challenge. The options are simple, and frightening. Should it be scrapped altogether, merged with existing legislation or reformed, the Government asks. Over more than 60 years, disabled people have fought for our right to be treated equally to be enshrined into law to act as some measure of protection against discrimination. While the Disability Discrimination Act has its limitations, it is absolutely essential that there is legal redress for people experiencing discriminatory practices whether in the workplace, in their leisure time or in their interaction with public services. The most recent Equality Act brings together legislation which bans discrimination on the basis of disability, race, sex and other protected characteristics such as sexuality. The 2010 Act also limits the use of pre-employment health questionnaires, long used to screen out disabled job applicants. It introduced an important Public Sector Equality Duty, meaning that government bodies have to think about equality issues in planning their policies and services.

The idea that the equalities legislation could just be swept away as unnecessary and overly-burdensome suggests very poor thinking on behalf of the Government. Ironically, the Government is actually bound by European law to provide legal protection against discrimination. This means that they cannot just undo the legislation willy nilly, as they would then be in breach of European laws to which they have already signed up.

At the latest count, 5,230 people had commented on the equalities section of the Red Tape Challenge website. Importantly, most of the comments are in support of the legislation but those moaning on about the “special treatment” given to disabled people and other discriminated minorities shows why this legislation remains so essential. As one respondent put it: “The fact that the Government has even posed the question of equality being red tape and have offered the option to scrap it shows us that we need equality legislation like never before.”

• To give your views on the Red Tape Challenge see: www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/equalities