It's due to close on 30 September, having been open since July. 

The suggested extension was rejected by the President of Employment and Social Security, who said 12 weeks is plenty of time for everyone to have their say. Plus, they need to get the first draft before the States during this term of office, before the 2020 elections, planned for June. 

Deputy Michelle Le Clerc said the consultation will close as planned at the end of this month, but she has now written an open letter, with more details, hoping to allay any concerns about the possible new legislation. 

Pictured: Deputy Michelle Le Clerc and Deputy Emilie Yerby have both been working on the proposals. 

Deputy Le Clerc has written to the business groups confirming that further consultation will be carried out after the first draft of the new discrimination legislation is published next year. 

Her open letter can be read in full below: 

Following continued calls from the Guernsey branch of the Institute of Directors, the Guernsey International Business Association, the Guernsey Chamber of Commerce, the Confederation of Guernsey Industry (the G4) and the Guernsey branch of the CIPD, for an extension to the consultation period, as President of the Committee for Employment & Social Security I wish to stress that we are consulting regarding draft, not final, policy proposals for new discrimination legislation – the whole point is to hear people’s views. If the local business associations are concerned about any aspects of the proposals, this is their opportunity to provide feedback. We are listening and we will carry on listening until we submit our final proposals to the States in 2020.

It’s clear from the media coverage that much of the concern being aired is based on misinformation, misinterpretation and fear of the unknown. I don’t think the views I’ve seen reported in the media reflect the views of all businesses. We’ve met with a variety of business owners at political and staff level in recent weeks. Having taken the time to ask questions and understand what the proposals really mean in practice, we have allayed many of their fears and have found a significant number to be broadly supportive of the proposals and what we’re trying to achieve. We are very grateful for their valuable feedback which we’ll take into account in developing the final proposals for debate by the States.

I would really urge the business associations to engage and apply the time remaining to understand the proposals, how they compare to other jurisdictions and respond constructively, rather than continuing to press for an excessively long consultation period which they know the Committee is not prepared to give if we are to meet our timetable. A Policy Letter with finalised proposals, taking into account consultation feedback, will come to the States in April 2020 for debate and, if approved, the legislation will be drafted. We must remember that there are those in our community that have waited patiently for years for these proposals.

The impression being portrayed is that that these proposals have come from nowhere with no prior engagement with business representatives. This is simply not the case. The Disability and Inclusion Strategy was approved by the States in November 2013. A key part of this Strategy was the introduction of disability discrimination legislation. The States of Guernsey has resolved to sign up to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) at the earliest opportunity – both require the introduction of discrimination legislation before we can sign up to them.

Representatives of the main business associations have been invited to key meetings during the development of these proposals and we can evidence this. Representatives of the Guernsey branch of the Institute of Directors, the Guernsey International Business

Association, the Guernsey Chamber of Commerce, the Confederation of Guernsey Industry and the Guernsey branch of the CIPD were all invited to the presentation by the Committee, back in November 2018, where the “straw man” proposal was explained. These business groups were sent the presentation materials and the full straw man immediately after the event and were invited to comment. No comments were received from those organisations at that stage.

I am aware that the Chamber of Commerce have published a survey including ten questions regarding this matter. We’re pleased that the Chamber of Commerce are engaging with their membership through the publication of their own survey. However, it’s important that people still respond to our official consultation as we’re concerned that the Chamber survey has many factual inaccuracies and includes leading questions.

I would like to encourage everyone who has views on any aspects of the Committee’s draft proposals to engage directly with the Committee either by completing the Committee’s consultation questionnaire (www.gov.gg/discriminationconsultation) or by emailing or writing to the Committee. This is the only way that people can be assured that we’ll receive their feedback in full.

If people have any questions or require clarification on any aspects of the proposals, including the proposed definitions of the proposed grounds of protection, please call 732546 or email equality@gov.gg.