Swinson slams government over youth discrimination

9.39.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 26th Jun 2009

In the House of Commons yesterday, Jo Swinson MP criticised the government for excluding people under the age of 18 from equalities legislation.Jo Swinson MP: East Dunbartonshire

The government’s Equality Bill, announced earlier this year, allows providers of goods, facilities and services to discriminate against young people under the age of 18. It has argued that “there is little evidence of harmful age discrimination against young people”, however Ms Swinson highlighted a report by Young Equals which details evidence of the harm that is caused to young people by age discrimination, and asked the Equalities Minister why the government is ignoring this evidence.

In October 2008 the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child produced a report on the UK which expressed concern “at the general climate of intolerance and negative public attitudes towards children, especially adolescents.” The government’s own polling data has shown that 43% of young people under the age of 18 felt they had been unfairly discriminated against because of their age, and Young Equals’ ‘Making the Case’ report details cases of discrimination in access to public transport, leisure facilities and shops, as well is in the criminal justice system and access to healthcare. The report even described a case where a young person calling the emergency services was denied having an ambulance sent out to them unless they got an adult to make the call.

Commenting, Jo Swinson said:

“Of course there are some situations in which it is right that young people should be treated differently in order to protect them, such as refusing to sell alcohol to under 18s. But it would be easy to make exceptions in the law for these kinds of cases, rather than giving young people no recourse to the law in cases where discrimination is clearly unfair.

“Sadly it has become common for all young people to be branded as yobs and hooligans because of the actions of a minority. If we want young people to play an active and positive role in society then we must show that we value them and treat them with respect. As the Young Equals report shows, young people suffer all kinds of discrimination such as on public transport, in shops and in accessing leisure facilities, which also affects parents who want to use these services with their children.”

“Protection for young people from discrimination must be included in the Equality Bill, with more sensible exemptions only in cases where treating young people differently really is justified.”

Notes:

The text of Jo Swinson’s question appears below:

Jo Swinson (East Dunbartonshire) (LD): What recent representations she has received on age discrimination against under 18-year-olds?

The Parliamentary Secretary, Government Equalities Office (Michael Jabez Foster): We recently received representations on age discrimination against children aged under 18 from organisations including Young Equals, 11 Million, the Association of School and College Leaders and the Equality and Human Rights Commission. We have also discussed the issue with children’s groups, including at the Government Equalities Office senior stakeholder group, and the Equality and Diversity Forum.

Jo Swinson: I am glad that the Minister mentions Young Equals and I am sure he has read its excellent report, “Making the case”, which details harmful age discrimination against young people, so how can the Government justify ignoring that evidence and excluding under-18s from protections in the Equality Bill?

Michael Jabez Foster: We all agree that young people deserve the best possible start in life, but the most appropriate and effective way to deliver better opportunities and services for our young people is through targeted initiatives, which is why, in January, we announced an extra 350,000 apprenticeship places, half of which we expect to go to 16 to 18-year-olds. It is also why we are investing £225 million over three years to support local communities. We need to support vulnerable young people who become homeless. Such targeted initiatives will have the greatest effect for the benefit of young people.

The Equality Bill and its progress through Parliament can be viewed here:

http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2008-09/equality.html

The 2008 report by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child can be viewed here:

http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/0/2f2744b7e0d015d6c1256c76004b3ab7?Opendocument

Young Equals’ ‘Making the Case’ report can be viewed here:

http://www.crae.org.uk/protecting/age-discrimination.html

Young Equals is campaigning to get protection from age discrimination for children and young people. It is supported by many charities and individual children and young people. If you have any evidence of age discrimination, please send it to equality@crae.org.uk.

Young Equals is coordinated by the Children's Rights Alliance for England. Members of the campaign steering group include the British Youth Council, The Children's Society, Families Need Fathers, Liberty, National Children's Bureau, the National Youth Agency, NCVYS, Save the Children UK, UK Youth, Youth Access and YWCA England and Wales.

11 MILLION, the Children's Commissioner for England, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission have observer status.