Women’s equality in the UK – A health check

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3.23
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report is was particularly difficult to find any data on disabled women. There are also gaps in
basic information about women who are institutionalised, and women, such as Gypsy, Traveller
and Roma women, who do not live in fixed locations. 27 Knowing the migrant population and its
needs is also a complex task because migrant populations often change over time for many
reasons. This has an impact on policy, for example, new health Clinical Commissioning Groups
are responsible for the health of everyone in their area, not just for the patients registered at GP
practices. (See Article 12) Communities are frequently internally divided and heterogeneous,
and not all community organisations or ‘community leaders’ speak for everyone. This is
particularly true in relation to women. It is important to recognise that communities may be
differentiated by language and dialect, religion, gender and age, as well as the length of time
people have been in the UK. 28
Recent cancellations of official surveys will reduce the ability of the EHRC, government and
other public bodies to understand the effect of policies and practices on equality groups
as required by the PSED, and measure progress towards equality. (The Wealth and Assets
Survey measures assets, debt and savings by employment status and in 2010 it showed a high
degree of inequality. 29 However, no further waves of this survey are planned. The Citizenship
Survey was cancelled in 2011. 30 The Tellus survey 31 was discontinued by the Department for
Education in 2010. The Census may also be discontinued. 32 ) The EHRC are dependent on
the Government and other bodies collecting data and without this will not be able to monitor
progress on equality.
This will also reduce the Government’s ability to report on its compliance with CEDAW.
Appropriate, high-quality data is not currently available to allow public bodies to target
resources well, to deliver services effectively and to publish information on outcomes as
required by the PSED. It is important that these are available to the public, given that the
Government has determined that public accountability through transparency shall become
a key lever in delivering equality in the public sector, rather than relying on regulation. Local
Authorities need such information to prioritise how resources should be spent as part of
the Government’s ‘localism agenda’. Information, analysis and regulatory scrutiny of public
authorities in England has been further reduced by the abolition of the Audit Commission and
changes to the role of the Care Quality Commission in respect of Local Authorities.
A lack of evidence and data about a community can impact on funding for services, for example
needing to provide ‘proof’ of need which is prohibitive for small groups who are unable to collect
data themselves without funding. 33
27. Equality and Human Rights Commission (2012) Submission of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, A status National Human
Rights Institution for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on the list of issues for the Convention on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Committee pre-sessional working group meeting. EHRC: London http://www2.ohchr.org/english/
bodies/cedaw/docs/55/EHRC-UK-PSWG_55.pdf
28. Maternity Action (2012) Guidance for Commissioning Health Services for Vulnerable Migrant Women. WHEC: London http://www.
maternityaction.org.uk/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/guidancecommissioninghealthservvulnmigrantwomen2012.pdf
29. The wealthiest half of British households have 91% of total wealth, with the least wealthy half accounting for only 9% of wealth, according
to Office of National Statistics (2011) Wealth in Great Britain Wave 2 2008-10 (Part 1) http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/was/wealth-in-greatbritain-wave-2/2008-2010--part-1-/index.html
30. Tarran, B. (2011) ‘Citizenship Survey axed to save £4m despite opposition’, Research, 21st March 2011 http://www.research-live.com/news/
government/citizenship-survey-axed-to-save-%C2%A34m-despite-opposition/4004812.article
31. The Tellus survey was developed by Ofsted and the Department for Education and gathered the views of children and young people and
was used by inspectors to identify potential aspects to investigate.
32. BBC News (2010) ‘National census in 2011 could be last of its kind’, BBC News UK, 10th July 2010 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10584385
33. Women’s Resource Centre (2010) In All Our Colours: Lesbian, bisexual and trans women’s services in the UK. WRC: London http://
thewomensresourcecentre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/IAOC.pdf
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