On the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s gender ruling, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) once again finds itself in the spotlight. The organisation has struggled to navigate the increasingly febrile debate around gender, with its interim guidance on trans people’s access to single-sex services being met with strong condemnation by some, whilst others have called for more comprehensive guidance to enable the Court’s judgment to be fully implemented. It has, in short, been a challenging year.
At the same time, the EHRC’s high-profile role in recent gender debates has prompted wider questions about its perceived lack of visibility on other pressing issues. Taken as a whole, a perception of imbalance and political bias has tarnished the reputation of the EHRC, chipping away at public confidence in the Commission.
This anniversary must serve as an opportunity for a course correction.
With calls growing for the EHRC to be scrapped altogether, now is the time to strengthen the work of this vital institution to ensure it can effectively defend human rights and equality across the UK. And with a new chair recently in post, there is a golden opportunity at the EHRC for organisational change.
At The Future Governance Forum (FGF), we think there are three ways to achieve this.
Firstly, the EHRC must stay resolutely politically neutral, but must never be passive in its work. Too often in recent years, the Commission has been accused of being overly timid around sensitive public issues. While political neutrality is key – it must never become a justification for institutional silence.
Secondly, the EHRC must return to its more outward facing role and make much greater use of its powers to collaborate with regulators in the housing, welfare and health sectors, where too often human rights concerns often go unaddressed.
And thirdly, the EHRC must shift its focus, away from reactive enforcement and towards confident and proactive norm-setting. All of these recommendations can be delivered within the existing legal framework for the EHRC and would help reaffirm the Commission’s role as a trusted defender of human rights and a driver of systemic change.
But the buck doesn’t stop with the EHRC. Over the last fifteen years, austerity-driven cuts have stripped away funding, staff and resources from the regulator, hampering its ability to strengthen and enforce rights across the UK. Reversing this trend by sufficiently resourcing the regulator with multi-year budgets will be key to ensuring the long-term financial sustainability and effectiveness, of the organisation.
While today’s anniversary will no doubt reanimate an already fractious debate, it should also offer an opportunity to pause and reflect. The changes we have set out offer a new direction for the EHRC, and a chance to reform a vital part of the state. Now is time for the EHRC and the government to make these recommendations a reality.
