Education and employment secretary David Blunkett has responded to ...
Education and employment secretary David Blunkett has responded to
Mr Blunkett said:
the Equal Opportunities Commission,s recommendations for a new sex
equality law to replace the present Sex Discrimination and Equal Pay
Acts.
'I received these recommendations with interest. The EOC has come up
with a wide-ranging set of proposals for change. Some of the
recommendations have far-reaching consequences and will need to be
studied in detail throughout government before we respond. We will
need to consider them in depth to see what their practical impact
would be.
'Our goal is equality for all and we have already taken steps to
remove obstacles that prevent people from making the most of their
abilities. We have: committed over£340m to the national
childcare strategy to help parents and children;
- produced the White Paper on Fairness at Work, setting out proposals
on parental leave, maternity pay and working hours;
- introduced a National Minimum Wage Act which should narrow the gap
between men and women's pay;
- launched an action plan for equal opportunities in public
appointments; and,
- produced a draft Code of Practice - 'Action on Age' - to combat
age discrimination.
'We are also setting up a Disability Rights Commission to strengthen
rights for disabled people and undertaking major consultation on
updating Race Relations legislation.
'We will consider the EOC's recommendations against this background
before producing our proposals.'
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