These pages do not apply outside the United Kingdom.

Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)

The EHRC took over the role of the Disability Rights Commission from 1st October 2007. It also covers the other grounds of discrimination - sex, race etc - making it a 'single equality commission'. Its website is www.equalityhumanrights.com.

The EHRC took over the former roles of the Disability Rights Commission, the Equal Opportunities Commission (sex discrimination), and the Commission for Racial Equality. It also covers discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, religion and belief, and age, and has a brief to promote human rights.

The EHRC helpline can help on disability discrimination under the DDA. There are telephone numbers for England, Wales and Scotland, or you can submit a web enquiry - see www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/Pages/Contactus.aspx#Helpline.

The Commission will sometimes help individuals take legal action under the DDA (s.28 Equality Act 2006), though it is likely to take on only a relatively small number of cases.

In creating the EHRC, certain safeguards regarding disability were built into the legislation. The Equality Act 2006 includes:

a requirement that at least one person who has, or has had, a disability be appointed to the EHRC Board (Sch 1 para 2(3)(a)); and
a Disability Committee within the EHRC, with disabled people making up at least half its members (Sch 1 Part 5). This committee is to have wide delegated powers in various areas of the EHRC's work that are unique to disability, and must be consulted as regards disability in the EHRC's cross-cutting work on employment and the new public sector duties. The Disability Committee will be subject to review after five years. (Links: 'Disability Committee' (link to EHRC), and disability work programme (link to EHRC) published Sept 2009).

Text of Equality Act 2006: www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts2006/20060003.htm
Explanatory note: www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/en2006/2006en03.htm

The Commission relates to England, Scotland and Wales. The equivalent body in Northern Ireland is the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.

EHRC criticised on its First Anniversary

The EHRC has been heavily criticised after its first year of operation, for example for its website being unattractive and uninformative, and for lacking vigour in speaking out on behalf of disabled people. The number of queries dealt with by the EHRC helpline, and also visits to the EHRC website, have both plummeted compared to figures for the previous Disability Rights Commission (DRC) - and the latter only dealt with disability! Another complaint is that much of the work done by the DRC is not available on the new Commission's website. For more, see Commission's Birthday Blues (link to DisabilityNow website), November 2008.

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