The Equality Bill: the facts

On the 27 April 2009, the Government published its long-awaited Equality Bill. Including explanatory notes, the Bill was 540 pages long and contained 205 clauses and 28 schedules.

My friend and colleague Ghiyas Somra in his role as Communications Manager at BRAP has put together a fact sheet about the Bill and can be downloaded for free by clicking here.

Further information about the Bill can be found at the Government’s Equalities Office website or by clicking here.

Christians versus Humanists: follow-up to the BHA report

A few weeks ago I posted about the report that the British Humanist Association (BHA) commissioned BRAP to research (click here). Below is an article by Damian Thompson that appeared in The Telegraph on the 30th April 2009 where he strongly criticises not only the report but also the Equality & Human Rights Commission (EHRC) for funding it.

The article is entitled, ‘Christians: this is how your taxes are being spent in the middle of a recession’:

New Report: “The ‘Religion or Belief’ Equality Strand in Law and Policy: Current Implications for Equalities & Human Rights”

The British Humanist Association (BHA) has today published a new report entitled, “The ‘Religion or Belief’ Equality Strand in Law and Policy: Current Implications for Equalities & Human Rights”.

The BHA commissioned BRAP to research the report. In my role as Director of Policy & Research at BRAP I wrote much of section 4.0 ‘Demography’. In relation to this section, the Executive Summary states:

The notion that census data, as currently collected, can accurately reveal the religious attitudes of contemporary Britain is highly problematic. The nature of the question used – ‘What is your religion?’ – gives an inaccurate picture of the religious or non-religious beliefs of census respondents. And yet the data is repeatedly used to underpin policy making. This makes it much more than simply an ‘academic’ issue. The direct use of census data to inform government policy has implications for the inclusiveness of policy on the ‘religion or belief’ strand as a whole. A debate regarding future questions on ‘religion or belief’ in the census to inform future policy is a pressing need.

The read the findings in their entirety, you can download a pdf version of the full report here.

Beyond Statistically Challenged: ‘Changing Populations’ conference at the West Midlands Regional Observatory

Below is a transcript of a paper that I presented at the West Midlands Regional Observatory conference, ‘Changing Populations’ on Tuesday 31st March 2009.

When considering issues of equality and diversity, it is very easy to get sidelined by statistics. This event today is not only about looking at the statistics of today but also about planning for the future: about making sure that we do not become statistically challenged and that our policies and strategies are ‘fit for purpose’. If we fail to achieve this in terms of equalities, then we will fail the challenge of ensuring the West Midlands region becomes a fairer and more equal place to live.

So how might we be statistically challenged?

Well a quick review of the information we have already highlights some real challenges in terms of equality and diversity, terms in themselves that we routinely bandy about but rarely engage with. So what do we know?

Headline figures and trends lay claim to the fact that the West Midlands is becoming increasingly diverse. Take for instance the marker of ‘race’ or ethnicity.

Christmas comes but once a year…thankfully (Speak Out magazine)

The following article is published in the latest edition of ‘Speak Out‘ magazine and is a re-working of an article that was published in my Birmingham Post column just before Christmas 2007.

Beginning earlier each year – this year it officially began on July 27th when I saw my first Christmas card for sale in a shop – the rampant commercialism of Christmas is such that if we are unable to get the latest Playstation/ Wii/ X-Box (delete as applicable) we will be officially deemed ‘bad parents’ by one and all by the morning of Boxing Day. Our consumer tendencies don’t even get a rest on Christmas Day itself either. Last year, whilst 2.8 million people attended a Church of England service, 3.7 million logged onto the web to spend more than £52 million in the ‘January’ sales. Maybe they were all looking for the Playstations, Wiis and X-Boxes they couldn’t find beforehand. All pretty depressing.