Cuts project ‘lacks clarity’ over equality

Ministers failed to take account of the impact on women, ethnic minorities and the disabled in key elements of its cuts programme, the official equality watchdog has found.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission said it was unable to determine whether decisions taken in the 2010 spending review were in full accord with the UK government’s legal duty to consider their effects on equality.

In its first detailed review of a government spending round, the commission blamed a “lack of clarity” within Whitehall over where responsibility lay for particular decisions.

However, it said it would be “disproportionate” to take any further formal action and praised the openness of ministers in co-operating with its review.

“The key point for the commission’s work is not to judge the past, but to transform the future,” said the commission’s chairman, Trevor Phillips.

Shadow home secretary and equalities minister Yvette Cooper said: “Decisions by David Cameron and George Osborne are already hitting women and families hardest, helping millionaires whilst those on low and middle income pay much more.”