Trevor Phillips continual leadership makes EHRC ineffective

Dear All

Trevor Phillips; head of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission is to lose some of his authority after being widely criticised for his lackluster leadership.

The EHRC is to be restructured by appointing a senior figure to lead each area of its activities, including gay rights, disability, race and sexual equality.

This means that a series of powerful figureheads would become the national voice on their particular issue.

This however may not be enough as it may lead to little fiefdoms being created in the organisation.

One of the failures of the EHRC is the lack of a public profile speaking out on discrimination, this is frankly bizarre as its remit is to stand up and be counted.

Another idea being floated which might be considerably better would be appointing senior figures as an official contact on each issue internally. This would allow the organisation not to end up splintered with different factions forming.

A criticism levelled at the commission is that people do not know whom to contact about a particular problem, this is ridiculous and effectively bad management.

The EHRC was set up three years ago to bring various groups under one umbrella to function as a single body but it has been plagued by infighting and inept leadership. As a measure of how bad things have got under Trevor Phillips six of the body’s 17 commissioners have walked out after he was reappointed for another three-year term.

A catalogue of complaints have been lodged against Trevor Phillips from people saying he is too high-handed, bouncing senior staff into decisions without consulting them, and that there have also been financial irregularities.

It beggars belief that he can honesty think he can lead this organisation and recapture public trust.

With the National Audit Office refusing to sign off the commission’s accounts because consultancy contracts had been offered to seven of Mr Phillips’s former colleagues from the Commission for Racial Equality; he must surely resign as this looks like jobs for the boys.

As well as cronyism the board of commissioners is also going to be overhauled and all remaining commissioners will have to reapply for their jobs.

The EHRC is every much a New Labour creation and stuffed with people from the
Trade union movement so one can speculate how diverse and effective the Commission actually is.

One thing I say is that as well as the Commissioners having to reapply for their jobs this should extend to the entire senior management.

And Trevor Phillips should tender his resignation and that should be accepted.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University