Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Government launches consultation on workplace equality

Seema Malhotra

Minister for equalities Seema Malhotra MP said: 'I am pleased to announce the launch of a call for evidence on equality law, an important step in this government’s Plan for Change.' (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

THE GOVERNMENT has launched a 12-week call for evidence to inform reforms on equalities at work under its Plan for Change.

The consultation aims to gather views on making the right to equal pay effective for women, ethnic minority groups and disabled people.


The exercise will contribute to the draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, expected to be published in this parliamentary session. It follows a separate consultation on mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting, which closes on 10 June.

Minister for equalities Seema Malhotra MP said: “I am pleased to announce the launch of a call for evidence on equality law, an important step in this government’s Plan for Change.”

She added, “Our goal is to understand how we can better remove barriers to opportunity and boost household incomes across the country so people can achieve according to their talents, irrespective of their backgrounds.”

The government is seeking input from expert bodies, employers, trade unions, civil society groups, disabled people’s organisations, public authorities, and those with relevant experience.

Areas of focus include pay discrimination, equal pay enforcement, outsourcing practices, pay transparency, combined discrimination protections, public sector equality duties, and workplace harassment.

The consultation will run until 30 June 2025.

More For You

Black and mixed ethnicity children face systemic bias in UK youth justice system, says YJB chair

Keith Fraser

gov.uk

Black and mixed ethnicity children face systemic bias in UK youth justice system, says YJB chair

Highlights

  • Black children 37.2 percentage points more likely to be assessed as high risk of reoffending than White children.
  • Black Caribbean pupils face permanent school exclusion rates three times higher than White British pupils.
  • 62 per cent of children remanded in custody do not go on to receive custodial sentences, disproportionately affecting ethnic minority children.

Black and Mixed ethnicity children continue to be over-represented at almost every stage of the youth justice system due to systemic biases and structural inequality, according to Youth Justice Board chair Keith Fraser.

Fraser highlighted the practice of "adultification", where Black children are viewed as older, less innocent and less vulnerable than their peers as a key factor driving disproportionality throughout the system.

Keep ReadingShow less