Phillipson sets up 'class unit' as social mobility advisers ditched

The government is to scrap its advisory body on social mobility, with a new "class unit" charged with improving life opportunities for poorer people.

The move will see the abolition of the Social Mobility Commission (SMC), responsible for advising ministers on tackling inequality in England.

Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson argued the move would bring the government's efforts to tackle disadvantage "in-house".

But the commission's outgoing chair Alun Francis criticised the decision, adding that class was a "messy concept around which to organise policy".

Previously known as the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, the body was renamed in 2016 when the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government scrapped legally binding child poverty targets.

Since then, its remit has been confined to promoting social mobility in England more broadly and publishing an annual report, alongside advising ministers.

Phillipson said her move to scrap the body, which comes amid wider efforts to cut the number of arm's length bodies in Whitehall, would redirect resources from "oversight to direct delivery" of the government's goals.

"This decision marks a pivotal step in embedding a focus on socio-economic inequality into the heart of government," she said in a statement.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, she said there had been a "squeamishness in talking about class" and it was a "big area that's been missing" in policy formation.

But Francis, who became the commission's permanent chair in 2023, accused ministers of failing to engage with the body on its plans and said he had seen "no detailed plan" for how the new unit should be assessed.

In a statement, he added that the name of the unit posed "obvious problems of definition" and "risks being deeply patronising, to equate being working class with being disadvantaged".

He also took issue with a government press release that said there were no examples since 2016 of its work having directly informed government policy, arguing it had influenced plans for clean energy jobs and the "devolution agenda".

The government said the new unit would sit within the Office for Equality and Opportunity, alongside existing teams responsible for covering race, sex, LGBT and disability rights contained in anti-discrimination laws.

It added that the unit would be responsible for introducing a new legal duty for public bodies in England to consider how their policies affect those on low incomes.

Detailed work on the duty has been ongoing since last year, following a commitment from Labour in its 2024 election manifesto.

The duty, dubbed "Harman's law" after it was written into the Equality Act by former Labour equalities minister Harriet Harman, was never enacted under the coalition government and has effectively remained dormant in England ever since.

It has applied in Scotland and Wales since 2018 and 2021 respectively, however, whilst a number of public bodies in England have adopted it voluntarily.

In July, the government said the new duty in England could apply in areas such as education, health, and housing, although the full scope of the policy, as well as guidance on how it would apply, is yet to be set out.

The Conservatives have vowed to scrap the duty if elected, with shadow equalities minister Joy Morrissey saying it would "drag businesses and public bodies into yet more bureaucracy" and "encourage class warfare instead of aspiration".