The Government has published a consultation document including proposals for a Single Equality Bill. It hopes to simplify and improve existing legislation and make common-sense proposals to modernise discrimination law.

The Discrimination Law Review (DLR) will have two key aims. One is to prevent discrimination happening by making equality law clearer, the second is to consult on whether there are significant gaps in protection.

Discrimination law is currently contained in nine major pieces of legislation, but creation of a Single Equality Act will put is all in one place. This will help stop discrimination and if people are discriminated against, they will know what their rights are.

Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly said: “Equality law is not about some abstract concept. It is about how every one of us is treated at work, as a customer and consumer, and by our public services. Our consultation document aims to provide clearer and more effective protection from discrimination wherever people are faced with it in their everyday lives.

Some of the issues and proposals the Government will seek views on are the way private clubs and associations restrict access, whether equality duties for public bodies should be simplified and how to tackle age discrimination outside employment.

Trevor Phillips of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights said: "The government is right to address the impenetrable thicket of equality legislation that too often leaves everyone baffled as to what our rights might be. We welcome this Green Paper as a vital step towards a society which is both free and fair and at ease with its diversity."