Equalities watchdog to prioritise work on justice and balance of rights over 2025-2028
Justice and the balance of rights is set to be one of the main areas of work for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in the next three years.
In a draft strategic plan for 2025-28, now out for consultation, the commission said: “The reality of human rights and equality is often felt in the areas of justice, personal security and policing.”
It said justice was “an area with persistent issues, inequalities and concerning negative trends".
Particular concerns were levels of - and responses to - violence against women and girls and increases in hate crime reported to police.
Ethnic minorities are overrepresented in the prison population and there was a rising proportion of ethnic minority groups among children and young people in detention, the commission noted.
Situations in which there were tensions between the rights of two or more groups, for example, sex and gender or religion or belief also needed attention.
EHRC chair Baroness Kishwer Falkner, said: “Our new three-year plan will make the best use of tight resources, focusing on those areas where we have responsibility to regulate or a unique offer to make.“
Other priorities in the justice section of the EHRC’s work include hate crime, low charge and prosecution rates for rape and human rights violations of children in youth detention.
The commission’s others intended main areas of activity are around work and participation and good relations.
Work will include difficulties with employment matters for “groups such as Gypsy, Roma or Travellers, older workers, disabled workers and women” and the gender pay gap, where the EHRC said it is the sole regulator.
“The legal landscape is dynamic and contested, providing opportunities for us to use our powers effectively,” it said.
Participation and good relations activities will cover areas such as the impact of public services digitisation on older and disabled people, risks from artificial intelligence, higher levels of school exclusions for children from various ethnicities and risks to freedom of expression by prohibiting the expression of certain views, or ‘shutting down’ debate.
Mark Smulian
