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Agenda item 2 is on the proposal to hold a review into the current state of play in equalities and identify priorities for moving forward. Do members have any comments on the general approach paper?
I am delighted to see that we are being cautious about how wide ranging the review might be and whether it will cover all strands and fields.
We will consider what areas we should cover. We want to know whether members feel that the proposed review is a good idea.
It is definitely a good idea.
We should consider the gender imbalance in pensions. It is ludicrous that the Government gets away with giving only 50 per cent to females. Another basic inequality is that if a single person goes into a residential home, their home is sold to pay for that, whereas if someone who is married or who lives with a partner goes into a residential home, their home is not sold. That situation could easily be challenged under the European convention on human rights. We should not tolerate the situation and should highlight it.
So members are happy with the idea of having an equalities review. We will consider the criteria for it.
Also, the racial imbalance in this Parliament is a joke.
Absolutely.
No ethnic minorities are represented in the whole Parliament.
Are members content with the proposal in paragraphs 5 to 11 of the approach paper? The suggestion is that the equalities review should consist of a research exercise and a consultation event; that the research specification should be considered at our meeting on 21 February; that the consultation event should be held in the Parliament as described; and that the committee should publish the outcomes of the review.
Members indicated agreement.
Are members happy to delegate responsibility to the clerks and me for progressing the matter?
Members indicated agreement.
Meeting closed at 12:54.
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