Equality and Human Rights Commission: A Decade in the Making

Abstract

This article traces the origins of the Commission over the decade before it opened its doors in October 2007, and the contentious debates and political trade‐offs which led to its emergence in its current form; a history which throws light on the challenges it now faces. Inclusion of human rights in a 'single equality body’, concessions on disability, the promise of a single Equality Act and the Commission's third arm, community relations, were major fault lines in debates complicated by devolution and fragmentation of responsibility in Whitehall but strengthened by an unusual degree of engagement with external stakeholders and by the scrutiny of the Joint Committee on Human Rights in Parliament. The outcome extends beyond establishment of a Commission with a powerful mandate. A process that began with separate equality interests competing to ensure their constituency did not lose out, fostered enthusiasm for collaboration to achieve the vision of society the Commission is tasked, by S3 Equality Act 2006, to deliver.’