High court judge to rule if coalition's budget is biased against women

Ruling expected on Fawcett Society's claim that government's planned cuts will affect females disproportionately.

A high court challenge aimed at overturning the government's emergency, summer budget is due to be heard today.

The Fawcett Society, which believes that cuts in jobs, benefits and services will disproportionately harm women, is seeking judicial review of the coalition's financial reforms. The legal submission argues that the government failed in its duty to take equality laws into account.

The society wants the June budget quashed and to force chancellor George Osborne to reconsider its provisions.

The hearing comes as Labour's equalities spokeswoman, Yvette Cooper, released research by the House of Commons library which, she said, showed that women will bear £11bn of the £16bn tax, benefit and pension cuts imposed in the budget.

The Fawcett Society will submit that such a budget cannot have been drawn up in compliance with the equality laws. If the judge agrees it has an arguable case, there will be a full hearing of the high court challenge in the near future.

The society says it wants budgetary policy to be reconsidered "on a proper basis", taking into account relevant provisions of the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act and other equality measures.

Ceri Goddard, the society's chief executive, said: "Successive governments have failed to give enough consideration to how their policies will impact on equality between men and women, but this budget shows a whole new level of disregard for the importance of equality law and everyday women's lives."

Responding to the challenge, a Treasury spokesman said: "[We] take equalities responsibilities very seriously. We await the court's decision on the Fawcett Society's renewed application.

"The government has made spending reductions in as fair a way as possible, as our own distributional analysis in the spending review confirms."

The Fawcett Society began its legal challenge in August.

(Published by Guardian - December 6, 2010)