Croydon’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Social and
Campaigning Group

CAGS
PO Box 464
London
SE25

Equalities Review: Interim Report for Consulation

We understand that you are still accepting submissions to ‘The Equalities Review: Interim Report for Consultation’.

Croydon Area Gay Society has some 70 members: gay men, women, bisexuals and transgendered people; in the London Borough of Croydon. In its present and previous forms it has been active for about thirty years.

The Society accepts that, in principle, it can be a very positive step to replace existing bodies, with one single body to deal with equalities issues. If the new body were sufficiently staffed and adequately funded it could provide solutions to many of the conflicts expressed on equalities issues that were justifiable, ethical and effective.

However, we have strong doubts about the resources and staffing that seem to be proposed.

We join with many others in expressing our concern at The Equalities Review document: the inadequate time allowed to produce report, the contributors’ remarkable lack experience in equalities, their very inadequate research of the expert literature on the topic, their rejection of proven approaches to the issues and the absence of any justification for their rejection – in short the extent to which the document fails to meet its remit or produce any credible way forward.

We are aware that ours is the mainstream position, but for the sake of precision, we defer to the substantial submission of the Mayor of London, which we support.

For the Croydon Area Gay Society, . . .