Foreword

We are all equal now...or are we?

By John O'Leary

Race and immigration aside, equality may turn out to be the forgotten element of the general election, as the parties trade statistics on the economy and roll out their promises on hospitals and schools.

Although they make up more than 50 per cent of the electorate, the particular interests of women are unlikely to feature among the top policy pledges. And while there will be plenty of talk about the poorest in society, it will be the middle-class swing voters who are courted most assiduously when the campaign begins.

This edition of Policy Review magazine focuses on the broader equalities agenda, from education to the labour market. We look at the key issues from the perspective of employees and employers, and Alan Milburn takes the long view of social mobility through the prism of his Panel on Fair Access to the Professions.

Mr Milburn argues that education is the key to social mobility. While the Government has accepted many of his panel’s recommendations, he puts the case for one that is yet to win ministerial support. Longstanding mistrust of voucher schemes have blocked its way, but he believes that by offering a route out of a failing school, ‘education credits’ could transform the life chances of many young people in poor areas.

Brendan Barber, the TUC general secretary, highlights a little-noticed danger in the next phase of recovery from the recession: the disproportionate threat to women’s jobs. When the axe falls in the public sector, it will be women who will be the main victims. Even in the euphemistic language of the Budget, the human face of efficiency savings in back-office services will be overwhelmingly female.

Abigail Morris, the employment specialist at the British Chambers of Commerce, has concerns about the unintended consequences of equalities legislation. The BCC recognises the need for protection against discrimination in the workplace, but it believes that the complexity of current legislation plays into the hands of vexatious claimants and their lawyers, at the expense of fair employers.

The second half of the magazine covers a variety of different public services, ranging from the affordability of legal aid to the legacy of Building Schools for the Future. There is a Policy Tracker on the imminent transfer of funding for 16-19 education and we examine the prospects for universities after the Budget and last month’s grant announcement.

29 March 2010

John O'Leary. Editor, Policy Review Magazine