Equality and Human Rights Commission

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (ECHR) was launched in the UK in October 2007. According to the ECHR website, it is

Taking over the role and functions of the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) and the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) and assuming new responsibilities for sexual orientation, age, religion and belief, and human rights.

The Commission is a Non Departmental Public Body (NDPB), established under the Equality Act 2006 as a corporate body. Our sponsor department is the Government Equalities Office. We have a board of commissioners who steer the commission's work and direction".

Many of those who worked in the previous equality commissions joined the new Commission, creating a body with an enormous wealth of experience and knowledge about race, sex and disability equality and discrimination. Many people have since joined the Commission -experts in sexual orientation, age, religion and belief and human rights and people with skills and experience in all relevant functions".

The Commission covers Great Britain i.e. England, Scotland and Wales, but not Northern Ireland. We have offices in London, Manchester, Cardiff, Glasgow and Edinburgh, and a regional presence in 9 offices in England and 1 in North Wales. For details of how to get in touch, see contact us".

Scotland

The Commission in Scotland is based in Glasgow and Edinburgh and works closely with the Scotland commissioner, Morag Alexander, and the Scotland committee.

Wales

The Commission in Wales claims to have "a strong role both on reserved and devolved matters, with a Wales commissioner and a statutory decision-making Wales Committee. We have a solid foundation to build on in Wales because there is already a statutory duty to promote equality of opportunity".