Chief Minister Allan Bell hopes to see ‘real progress’ on the introduction of equality legislation by the end of the year.
He said he wanted to speed up the progress of an Equality Bill, based on the UK Equality Act 2010, after a lesbian couple were refused the tenancy of a flat in Ramsey because of their sexual orientation.
‘There’s a few more gaps than I realised initially in our provision,’ he said.
‘I have asked the draftsman and the Department of Economic Development, who also has an interest in this, to consider the best way to bring a new Bill forward which can be done quickly and simply.’
The Chief Minister said the timing, with a raft of legislation being brought forward, was ‘unfortunate’, adding: ‘I hope we will see real progress on it by the end of the year.’
He said government’s quick response and belief the action was ‘completely unacceptable’ ‘considerably limited the amount of off-island damage’ caused despite ‘extensive coverage’ in the UK.
The UK Equality Act covers discrimination on factors including sexual orientation, age, religion, disability, race and sex. It covers areas such as work, education and as a consumer.