Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Women and Equalities, what assessment he has made for the implications of her policies of Paragraph 9(1) of Resolution 2318 (2020) of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly on the establishment of appropriate monitoring mechanisms to assess the implementation of anti-discrimination legislation.

Resolution 2318 concerns the protection of freedom of religion or belief in the workplace. Domestic anti-discrimination provisions covering religion or belief are contained in the Equality Act 2010. Anyone who feels that they have suffered discrimination because of religion or belief can contact either ACAS, for issues related to the workplace, or the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) for non-employment matters. Both services provide free advice to members of the public.

ACAS and the EASS refer appropriate cases to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which is the country’s national equality and enforcement body.

Both the EHRC and ACAS have published guidance for employers and employees about religion or belief and the workplace.