UK: the Equalities Bill and company reporting

Yesterday the Government's Equalities Office published "Framework for a Fairer Future - The Equality Bill" (Cm. 7431). The paper explains that the purpose of the Government's proposed Bill is "to strengthen protection, advance equality and declutter the law". In this regard a role is recognised for company reporting (at p. 25):

Businesses increasingly recognise the advantages they can gain from improving their performance on equality, so that they can attract and retain talent from the widest possible pool and tap into new markets. We therefore expect that performance on equality will increasingly be a matter which companies choose to report to their shareholders and stakeholders. We are confident that business will want to make progress in this area, and that this will lead to the delivery of improved equality outcomes. We will review progress on transparency and its contribution to the achievement of equality outcomes and, in the light of this, consider, over the next five years, using existing legislation for greater transparency in company reporting on equality".