In June 2009, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) published the results of its year-long inquiry into human rights.

The inquiry assessed progress towards the effectiveness and enjoyment of a culture of respect for human rights. It also considered how the current human rights framework might best be developed and used, to realise the vision of a society built on fairness and respect.

The main findings of the inquiry were that:

• human rights are rarely the only driver for change in public bodies – a range of targets and policy changes also put demands on finite resources
  
  
• further work on governance arrangements in public bodies would lead to a better of understanding the implications of human rights case law
  
  
• government and public bodies are reluctant to use human rights language due to a perception that it is legalistic or because of confusion between human rights and equality
  
  
• there is concern that there is insufficient knowledge about human rights and good practice needs to be spread more widely
  
  
• front line public sector staff have limited human rights training
  
  
• examples of a human rights approach can be found in regulatory and inspection frameworks, including CPA, but there is concern that human rights remains a priority in new inspection frameworks including CAA
  
  
• the inquiry found some evidence of human rights being embedded into the work of public bodies, but detailed information on the costs and benefits of human rights activity are not collected in a systematic way

Access more detailed findings and recommendations of the inquiry from the Improvement Network briefing: 'Human Rights Inquiry' (PDF file, 3 pages, 50 KB).

In addition to the Inquiry, the EHRC recently published an Equality Measurement Framework (EMF) for monitoring progress towards equality and human rights in England, Scotland and Wales. The EMF is not a performance measurement framework. It aims to help identify inequalities that need further investigation and provide a baseline of evidence to evaluate progress.

In January 2010 the EHRC intends to issue a web-based tool to make EMF data accessible to those with an interest in equality and human rights.

Access the Improvement Network briefing on the EMF's 'Equality Measurement Framework' (PDF file, 3 pages, 63 KB).