Briefing: Equality Impact Assessments and the Budget 2020

Key Points

• The Treasury has yet again failed to publish a comprehensive Equality Impact Assessment of the 2020 Budget. The only impact assessment relating to protected characteristics in the Budget documents are the Tax Information and Impact Notes (TIINS) produced by HMRC. Only a few measures were recognised to have any equalities impact at all and even here the analysis is cursory, based on limited evidence and with a poor understanding of equality impact.
• In the absence of a meaningful cumulative equality impact assessment of the budget as a whole it is impossible to judge whether the Treasury has met its obligation under the Public Sector Equality Duty to have ‘due regard’ to equality.
• The Equality and Human Rights Commission, Treasury Select Committee and Women and Equalities Select Committee have all called on the Treasury to do more to demonstrate that it has met its obligations under the PSED.

View and download the briefing here.