The Fairness Test - an update

Submitted by Will Horwitz on 3 September 2010

One of The Spirit Level's conclusions was that it does not matter how inequality is reduced, merely that it is; our emphasis should be on the outcome, rather than the process.

Yet policy-makers mostly legislate for process, and if they do so without an awareness of how their policy could impact on inequality, they are effectively flying blind - oft-repeated assertions of 'fairness' are meaningless unless there is some analysis that suggests policy will achieve fair outcomes.

That's why, before the election, The Equality Trust and a large group of charities and other organisations wrote to the main party leaders asking if they would commit to a Fairness Test when tackling the deficit. This would be a comprehensive equality impact assessment of every tax rise and spending cut, to ensure that it did not impact more heavily on the poorest. Furthermore it would be published so that the public could hold any government to account on their shared claim to be in favour of fairness.

To that original letter, Nick Clegg expressed his support and signed up, while David Cameron and Gordon Brown reiterated their commitment to fairness but not the test itself. After the election we wrote to the new Prime Minister and Deputy, asking if they would honour Nick Clegg's pre-election pledge. After a long wait, their reply at the beginning of August was evasive, again claiming a dedication to fairness but not the test that would prove it. So we wrote back and pressed them again, in the week the IFS released a report showing the budget did in fact hit the poorest hardest.

We now await a reply to our latest letter. With the Comprehensive Spending Review being announced in October, now is a crucial time. Government departments will be working out what they can cut, and negotiating with the Treasury. If they are not made to assess the impact of their proposals on different groups within society then they may end up, perhaps unwittingly, with proposals that harm the most vulnerable and widen the gap between them and the richest.

The Fairness Test is not prescriptive about how inequality could be reduced. In fact, it does not even call on government to reduce inequality. All it asks is that, in a climate where all the mainstream parties have accepted and regularly promote the need for fairness in policy-making, they take measures to ensure they get it. 

Find out more about the Fairness Test