What discussions took place between it and the UK Government prior to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Budget 2005 announcement that the D…

The UK Government announced the Equality Bill in November 2004 after a substantive period of consultation. The Equality Bill proposed the creation of a Commission for Equality and Human Rights, which would replace the Disability Rights Commission, the Commission for Racial Equality and the Equal Opportunities Commission. If created, the new commission will have responsibility for promoting equality and human rights and enforcing anti-discrimination legislation on grounds of gender, age, religion and belief, sexual orientation, disability or race. The Equality Bill did not complete its Parliamentary passage before the UK Parliament was dissolved.
The proposed commission will be of vital importance to equality communities in Scotland, and to the Scottish private, voluntary and public sectors. The Scottish Executive has worked closely with Whitehall colleagues over several years and ensured that Scottish needs have been reflected in the Bill. The Executive has also supported significant stakeholder input from non-Governmental organisations in Scotland into the UK Government project.
No meetings have taken place between Scottish Executive ministers and UK Government ministers so no minutes exist. Communities ministers in the Executive and UK Government ministers from the Department for Trade and Industry have been in contact both in writing and over the telephone during the project. Ministers from the DTI, Scotland Office and the Scottish Executive have spoken at the same public event.
The proposals in the Equality Bill and the preceding White Paper Fairness for All in May 2004 (Bib. number 32752) are clear on proposed arrangements for the new Commission in Scotland. The new Commission will have an office in Scotland. It will be a reserved body and will report to the UK Government, however it will also be expected to work closely with the Scottish Executive, to provide a report annually on its activities to the Scottish Parliament and to work closely with the Equal Opportunities Committee of the Scottish Parliament. It’s board will be appointed by the UK Government; however the designated Scottish Commissioner must be appointed with the agreement of Scottish ministers. The new Commission’s budget was not set before the dissolution of the UK Parliament.