A new independent body that will use data to drive governments’ work against social injustices, was announced by the Prime Minister Theresa May last week.
The Office for Tackling Injustices will use data and analytics to find the key barriers for specific groups, including those across different socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicities, genders, disabilities and sexual orientations.
Reactions from the voluntary sector have been mixed …
Helen Barnard, deputy director of policy and partnerships at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said on Twitter: You don’t tackle injustices with data. You use data to understand them and do stuff to get rid of them. I’m a big fan of data and evidence – but we’ve got plenty of data about injustices and the solutions to them. What we’ve lacked is the action bit.
Kristiana Wrixon, head of policy at Acevo said: I’m sceptical as to whether this will lead to genuine action or change. The government dismissed the UN rapporteur report on poverty, this and other evidence of inequality that already exists isn’t acted on. I hope I’m wrong and this new office can hold the government to account.
Ruth Hunt, chief executive of Stonewall said: We’re really pleased that the government is making this commitment to improve the data we have on the challenges facing LGBT communities. Reliable data on the experience of LGBT people is scarce, and there are huge difficulties gathering it. The Office for Tackling Injustices will give us a clearer picture of the barriers and better enable us to act against the discrimination LGBT people still face.
Hmmm, let’s see what happens …
Click this link for more information on this plan to ‘tackle social injustices’.
