House of Commons · Westminster Hall
13 October 2020 · 2 other contributors · 4,635 words
Opened by Ben Bradley Con Mansfield
Responding minister: Vicky Ford
Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.
Ben Bradley raised concerns about equality act 2010: children from disadvantaged backgrounds in Westminster Hall. A government minister responded.
Key points
Key requests to Government
The Minister should review the socioeconomic provision within the Equality Act that has not been enacted and consider amending it to offer protection for those facing barriers due to poverty, care or other hardships. Additionally, the Government should look into removing positive action elements that condone discrimination against disadvantaged groups, such as white children.
MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.
Opened the debate
The Equality Act 2010 is failing to protect disadvantaged white children, particularly boys, who face the lowest rates of university attendance and high school qualifications compared to other groups. The misapplication of positive action provisions in the Act often results in discrimination against these children by excluding them from scholarships or support based on their socioeconomic status rather than addressing their actual needs.
Paying tribute to Ben Bradley for raising issues about children from disadvantaged backgrounds, Andy Carter highlighted the success of Evelyn Street Primary School in reversing educational challenges faced by white working-class boys. He noted that these boys are 13% behind black boys and 23% behind Asian girls in phonics at age five, and 40% less likely to go into higher education than their black counterparts. Carter urged the review of socioeconomic background as a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010.
My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech and a very good case, not just on the specific points he has mentioned, but on the wider principle of making sure that the Equality Act actually works. I wish to add to his list the issue of geographical disadvantage.
Government Response
Vicky FordI congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield on securing this really important debate... We have spent a decade trying to close it, and we need to make sure that it does not spring apart again, particularly for the cohorts of children that my hon. Friend mentions. I am enormously grateful for my hon. Friend's support for this agenda. He has raised important concerns. I particularly note his questions, which we will take up with the Equalities Office. I hope I have helped to explain the difference between positive action, which is allowed, and positive discrimination, which is not. I point him again to the need for continual work on the guidance on this subject, and I will make sure that I continue to raise these points with the Minister for Equalities, my hon. Friend the Member for Saffron Walden (Kemi Badenoch). I hope my hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield is happy that the Government's response today echoes his concerns. We have taken steps to underline the importance of supporting the most disadvantaged and vulnerable, and to make sure that all children from all backgrounds, including the most disadvantaged, have the best opportunities in life.