[2020] EWCA Civ 1058, Sir Terence Etherton MR, Dame Victoria Sharp P and Singh LJ
The Court of Appeal allowed the Claimant’s appeal against the decision of the Divisional Court that the Defendant had not breached the PSED in its trial of live automated facial recognition technology Continue reading
[2020] EWCA Civ 1046, Sir Geoffrey Vos C, Singh and Simler LJJ
The claimant unsuccessfully appealed against the rejection by Lewis J of its challenge to the decision to remove the exemption in the congestion charging regime which had previously applied to private hire vehicles (PHVs). The exemption remained applicable to black cabs and to the 1% of PHVs which were wheelchair accessible. The claimant argued that the removal of the exemption amounted to indirect discrimination against BAME and women PHV drivers, 94% of PHV drivers being from BAME backgrounds whereas 88% of black cab drivers were white. Continue reading
High levels of concern are being expressed on Twitter about the equality implications of arrangements for the BTPC examinations, which are to be taken in August online either remotely or in a test centre. Continue reading
The Home Affairs Committee is currently taking evidence on policing and race, including the policing of the covid-19 lockdown, as part of its inquiry into The Macpherson Report: twenty-one years on. Continue reading
The July 2020 print issue of Counsel magazine carries an article by Lesley Thomas QC (until recently joint head of Garden Court chambers, now also a professor of law at Gresham College) subtitled “Let’s talk about race. Forget the guilt and take action. Bias is implicit and often unconscious. It takes great courage to change the system. It benefits us all.” Continue reading
In news that is unlikely to come as a surprise to many of us, The Times reported on 20 April 2020 that “Men dominate jobs offering highest pay”. Continue reading
In R (Tigere) v Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills [2015] UKSC 57, [2016] 1 All ER 191, [2015] ELR 455 the Supreme Court ruled that the unavailability of student funding to the claimant, who had discretionary leave to remain in the UK, breached Art 14 ECHR and A1P1, though it upheld a requirement for three years’ lawful residence. Continue reading
Part 2 of the PHE’s Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on BAME groups was finally published on 16 June 2020, a fortnight after Part 1. It makes for chilling reading. Continue reading
[2020] EWHC 1554 (Admin), Bean LJ and Cavanagh J
Comment
The claimants sought unsuccessfully to challenge the approach taken by the Chancellor to the furlough scheme, arguing in particular that the exclusion of self-employed workers from entitlement to furlough payments and the restriction of payments for non-furloughed workers who could not attend work (because they were symptomatic or self-isolating) to SSP discriminated against self-employed workers contrary to Article 14 EHCR, and indirectly discriminated against women and BAME workers contrary to EU law. They also claimed that the Chancellor had failed to pay regard to the PSED in designing the scheme. Continue reading
On 2 June 2020 Public Health England released its report COVID-19: review of disparities in risks and outcomes. The report confirmed that BAME people are dying disproportionately (people of Bangladeshi origin who contract the disease being up to twice as likely as, and people from other BAME groups being up to 50% more likely than, white Britons to die), but neglected to suggest the reasons for the disparity or to make any proposals to deal with it. It has been widely criticised for this failure. Continue reading
