[WiLT] Quality and Equality: Human Rights, Public Services and Religious Organisations

[WiL Admin]

Quality and Equality: Human Rights, Public Services and Religious
Organisations

Proposed public service reforms risk discrimination against employees
and service users and negative effects on social cohesion

The British Humanist Association (BHA) today announces the launch of a
major new report into the contracting out of public services to
religious organisations. The launch of the report is being supported
by the TUC and its conclusions endorsed by public figures including
Lord Warner, former minister at the Department of Health.

The report's findings demonstrate that there is no evidence that
religious organisations offer any distinctive benefits to the supply
and provision of public services and actually that the Government's
clear policy objective of expanding the role of religious
organisations within the public services runs the risk of lowering
standards, increasing inequalities, introducing 'parallel services'
and damaging social cohesion.

The research warns of the dangers of discrimination against staff not
protected by Employment Equality Regulations pertaining to religion or
belief or sexual orientation because of the exemptions that religious
organisations have from equality legislation, and of potential
barriers to accessing public services for the general public.

Hanne Stinson, BHA Chief Executive, said 'We are publishing Quality
and Equality to draw attention to our concerns about the current
policy to make religion a central feature in the provision and
delivery of a wide range of public services. Through the report, we
want to make clear our position that the most fair and most inclusive
services - for service users of all faiths and none - are secular
services. The report sets out the problems for employees and service
users, the risks of discrimination and inequality, the damage to
social cohesion and the infringements on human rights, which will
arise from the Government's policy of contracting out public services
to religious organisations. We are calling on the Government to
address these concerns.'

Polly Toynbee, President of the BHA, said 'It cannot be right that any
provider of public services is permitted by law to discriminate in
employment policies or in the manner in which it provides statutory,
state funded public services.'

Quality and Equality calls for secular and inclusive services and
recommends a more transparent tendering process for religious
organisations contracted into public service supply and delivery. In
addition, it highlights the need for legislative change to ensure that
organisations providing public services:
* could not discriminate between service users on grounds of 'religion
or belief', or on any other grounds;
* must respect the human rights of service users;
* have equality-based employment policies, so that no one is
privileged for a position because of her/his religion or belief,
her/his sexual orientation, or on any other irrelevant ground.

Quality and Equality: Human Rights, Public Services and Religious
Organisations can be downloaded from the BHA website at
http://tinyurl.com/25w2hb

An executive summary can be downloaded at http://tinyurl.com/3a4497

Source
http://www.humanism.org.uk/site/cms/newsarticleview.asp?article=2398

Posted on WiLT blog at
http://www.freecharity.org.uk/~womeninlondon/?p=467