More than 100 jobs to go at Equality and Human Rights Commission

More than 100 jobs are to go at the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) as part of a restructuring brought on by a significant reduction in the watchdog's government funding.

The Commission had already cut the number of executive director and director level posts to 15, down from 27, after a consultation held in the autumn of 2011.

It currently has 257 posts and plans to cut this to around 150 (a figure that will include the 15 saved director posts).

However, these numbers do not cover the EHRC’s helpline staff, who are to be covered in a separate process with the supplier selected by the Government to provide the new Equality Advisory and Support Service it is commissioning. The Commission will no longer provide a helpline.

The EHRC is also planning to rationalise its offices. It will keep its presence in London and Manchester for the next 18 months at least, but over time expects to operate from a single location in England, “most likely on the outskirts of London”. The Birmingham office is expected to shut this year. The watchdog's offices in Glasgow and Cardiff will be kept.

The Commission said it planned to build on its most successful projects, which it identified as including its inquiry into home care for older people, its assessment of the 2010 spending review and its work on stop and search.

The EHRC added: “[The proposals] involve becoming an organisation which delivers on its mandate to Parliament to promote equality and human rights, by making best use of intelligence, prioritising its work more effectively and then works more closely with other organisations to deliver projects.”

The Commission’s three-year strategic plan was laid before Parliament in April this year.

Mark Hammond, Chief executive of the EHRC, said: “The proposals we are outlining secure the Commission’s future at time of financial pressure. They will allow us to continue to deliver a valuable public service through our role as the national expert on equality and human rights and the guardian of the standards set by parliament. 

“We remain wholly committed to the future of the Commission. But to deliver our mandate from Parliament we have to plan for the reduced resources which we, along with many others will have in the future. That means being focused in what we do, working more closely with others, and achieving further savings in our own spending in order to deliver value for tax payers.”

The Public and Commercial Services Union claimed that EHRC helpline workers had been told their jobs would move to Stratford-upon-Avon, and that workers in Scotland and Wales who did not accept a transfer would be deemed to have resigned and so ineligible for a redundancy payment. 

The PCS said it would be raising the issue as a priority with the Cabinet Office. 

The union's general secretary, Mark Serwotka, said: "This is an outrageous way to treat experienced staff who are dedicated to helping people facing discrimination.

"These cuts to the EHRC will wind the clock back decades and are purely designed to make it easier for the government to ride roughshod over vulnerable people in our communities."