Overview.

July 2020 the States unanimously approved the draft policy proposals for anti-discrimination legalisation. 

Between the original ‘straw man’ best practice paper, the consultation proposals and the final draft proposals there was significant watering down following the consultation.

The following  table is taken form the Policy Letter entitled “Proposals for a New Discrimination Ordinance” (dated 2nd March, 2020). It details the key changes that the ESS committee made to draft technical proposals

“6.1 This section summarises the changes that the Committee has made to its policy proposals in response to consultation feedback received during the summer of 2019. Table 6.1 sets out the Committee’s previous proposals (that have now been superceded), the consultation feedback to which the Committee has responded and, in the right hand column, the position that the Committee is now recommending in this Policy Letter. Further explanation in respect of the changes made can be found in section 2 of the technical proposals in appendix 4.”

Table 6 Summary of changes made to policy proposals in response to consultation feedback

You can also access the table by pressing the button below:

For more than 12 years the GDA has represented our membership and campaigned for Equality of Opportunity. Two of the key projects being:

  • Discrimination Legislation
  • establishing an independent Equality and Rights Organisation (ERO)

These were also two of P&R’s (Policy and Resources) priorities for this term.

November 2013 the States unanimously agreed to the Disability and Inclusion strategy and the legislation work stream.

2nd March 2020 ESS published their policy letter on discrimination legislation and the ERO for debate at the end of April 2020.

We are now campaigning that the debate on the policy letter is not delayed (a call by local Business Groups G4).

Follow #NoMoreDelays if Equality, Diversity and Inclusion are important to you please email P&R and your local deputies to ensure it is not delayed any further.

You can review a number of Questions and Answers to common topics on the Discrimination Legislation discussions in Robs FAQ’s

The States Discrimination Legislation Policy Letter (Proposals for a New Discrimination Ordinance) is on their website gov.gg 

The States is due to debate the proposals for the detail of religion/belief and sexual orientation in November 2021. These two grounds are due to be part of phase 1 of the legislation which will include race, carer status and disability, which detail the States have already agreed on.

For more information click the button below:

GDA Statement.

The Guernsey Disability Alliance is pleased that after twelve years of campaigning and six years of working with the government and with other stake holders, including representatives from business, that the Committee for Employment and Social security have published the long awaited Policy Letter concerning proposals for multi-ground discrimination legislation that addresses many of the concerns expressed by all sides.

The GDA however, does still have a number of questions about the proposals, but we are pleased that the Policy Letter provides a foundation on which to go forward.

We will continue to engage and address the concerns expressed by some in the business community and are confident that many of these will be addressed through the debate in the States Assembly. We also note that the Policy Letter contains proposals for a review mechanism that might help resolve any issues that have not been resolved during implementation.

You can download our media release on the Discrimination Legislation Policy Letter (6th March 2020) below