What hope now for non-discrimination in public services? CLG drops 'Charter of Excellence'

It is a great shame to hear that the Communities and Local Government department have dropped their proposed Charter of Excellence, something which may have helped shore up protection not provided for by the Equality Bill. A promise not to proselytise or discriminate against staff and service users was to form part of the Charter. As the BHA reports the loopholes left by the Equality Bill will leave organisations based on religion or belief free to continue to conduct discriminatory practices.

We will write to CLG to request that this matter be looked at carefully and ask how the department will tackle these concerns.

In other news, I'd be intrigued to discover Esther Rantzen's position on the Charter of Excellence...