Equality and Human Rights Commission

3 More London
Riverside Tooley Street
London
SE1 2RG

Tel (office): 020 3117 0235
Tel (helpline): 0845 604 6610
Web: www.equalityhumanrights.com

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is working to eliminate discrimination, reduce inequality, protect human rights and to build good relations, ensuring that everyone has a fair chance to participate in society.

The previous commissions – the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Commission for Racial Equality, and the Disability Rights Commission – have made enormous advances, changing Britain into a fairer place, but much remains to be done. The new commission is building on their legacy to achieve change to benefit some of the most disadvantaged and voiceless people in our society. It brings together the work of the three previous equality commissions and also takes on responsibility for the other aspects of equality: age, sexual orientation and religion or belief, as well as human rights.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission acts not only for the disadvantaged, but for everyone in society, and can use its new enforcement powers where necessary to guarantee people’s equality. It also has a mandate to promote understanding of the Human Rights Act.

Services include:

• ACAS partnership - in partnership with the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), the Equality and Human Rights Commission will help employers to gain hands-on, practical experience of equality good practice.
• Disability conciliation service - offers an effective alternative route to court action, when a breach of the Disability Discrimination Act may have occurred. It uses a rights-based approach that ensures settlements are quick and effective. The focus is on changes to practices, policies and procedures. It can lead to lasting change for disabled people and not just compensatory payments. The service is free, confidential and accessible, enabling disabled people to exercise their rights in relation to goods and services and post-16 education.
• Responsibility for section 44 of the Race Relations Act - which sets out guidelines for giving financial assistance to other organisations. They support innovative projects which lead to real results and which make a difference to racial equality and race relations locally.
• Helpline