Lords Re-un Equal Opportunities Bill

A number of clubs have asked for an update after reading stories in the press concerning an Equal Opportunities Bill relating to Private Members Clubs.

The Equal Opportunities Bill was debated in the House of Lords under the auspices of Lord Faulkener of Worcester. It passed through all the stages of the House of Lords but did not get sufficient time in the last sesion of the House of Commons to make further progress. In Parliamentary terms it therefore died.

Lord Lester and Lord Faulkener have just introduced another Bill int he House of Lords. Their premise for the Bill will be exactly the same as the first one - that single sex clubs should remain as currently constituted. Clubs of either sex, however, which allow members of the opposite sex to attend the club on a regular basis should not treat them any differently.

Consequently any Union club that has women with limited rights would be caught by this legislation if it ever became law. Any club that takes a subscription from women or admits them on a regular basis on a ladies card would find that they would be forced, after having been in existence for two years, to treat women in the same way as men. They would therefore have to charge the same subscriptions, permit woment to vote for committee, attend the Annual General Meeting and be elected as Officers of the club.

This issue was again raised by Lord Faulkener during the debate on the Licensing Bill in the House of Lords. The Government stated that they were very sympathetic to Lord Faulkener's view but felt it should not be a part of a Bill concerning licensing and therefore it will not be included in the Licensing Bill. They did, however, state that they were hoping to produce some legislation in the not too distant future relating to private members' social clubs. This, of course, would equally apply to golf clubs and gentlemen's clubs in London that permit women as well as working men's and other social clubs.

Recently a Ten-Minute Bill has been introduced in the House of Commons. It is unlikely that this will proceed but again the Government have made supportive noises.

It is therefore becoming obvious to the Union's Executive that there is a determination from a number of Parliamentarians across the political spectrum that women should be treated equally to men in private members' clubs. There are only about ten single sex clubs in the Union. These are clubs that never allow women on the premises except as employees.

The Government seem to be pressurised into supporting it and have stated that they are in basic agreement with the principle of equal rights. It is therefore almost certain that within the next couple of years a Bill which has the Government's support, or is even sponsored by the Government themselves, will be on the Statute Book and then all clubs will be forced to give women full rights.

The Executive will naturally continue to monitor the situation and provide future reports.

May 2003