Professional body the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has attacked the Government's proposals for a Single Equality Bill, saying it fails to go far enough in achieving either the simplification or consistency necessary for real progress.

Dianah Worman, OBE, CIPD diversity adviser, said: "This green paper runs the risk of delivering a compliance based model that will entrench a box-ticking approach to produce minimum standards in diversity. If government is serious about stopping the marginalisation of people in the labour market then it must show a greater willingness to work with employers to develop a piece of legislation that will actually work."

Worman went onto say that, importantly, government need to ensure any such legislation goes hand in hand with a concerted approach to promote best practice on the basis of a clearly argued and properly evidenced business case for diversity.

"There are many employers already fully embracing diversity and reaping the benefits in terms of a well motivated, diverse workforce better able to meet business objectives and the needs of their customer base," she added. "Much more can and should be done to promote this good practice and encourage organisations to focus on the ways in which embedding diversity into other operational activities, such as marketing, can add value to business performance."

The Government’s consultation closed on 4 September.