Evidence library

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has been working with the Government Equalities Office (GEO), the Scottish Government, the Welsh Assembly Government, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and a range of other stakeholders and subject experts to develop a measurement framework that can be used to assess equality and human rights across a range of domains relevant to 21st century life. These domains focus directly on those things in life that people say are important for them to actually do and be. The framework monitors the central and valuable things in life that people actually achieve - such as enjoying an adequate standard of living, being healthy, having good opportunities for education and learning, enjoying legal security, and being free from crime and the fear of crime. It is particularly concerned with the position of individuals and groups with regard to characteristics such as age, disability, ethnicity, gender, religion or belief, sexual orientation, transgender and social class. The Equality Measurement Framework (EMF) is not a performance measurement framework. Rather it provides a baseline of evidence for evaluating progress and deciding priorities. The framework will enable the Commission to discharge its legal duties to monitor social outcomes under the Equality Act 2006. It will also provide data that may help Government and other public bodies prioritise their activities to meet the public sector duties on equality. As data are collected to fill the framework it is planned that a web-based tool will be developed to make the data accessible and useful to all groups and individuals with an interest in promoting equality and human rights in Britain.