On Wednesday 9th September I hosted an event with key public bodies to discuss how the new socio-economic duty, contained in the Equality Bill, will be put in to practice.

We have put in as clause one in the Equality Bill a duty to narrow the gap between rich and poor.

The independent National Equality Panel, which we set up last September to carry out an in-depth analysis of economic inequality, presented analysis on inequality that will inform the implementation of the new duty to address socio-economic inequalities.

Evidence reviewed by the Panel underlines that whether it's educational attainment, income, or housing, those from the most deprived backgrounds tend to do worse. This is what the socio-economic duty is designed to challenge.

So the new duty will attack one of the most fundamental and stubborn of all the determinants of inequality and ensure public bodies take the action they can to tackle it. Please click here to read a copy of my speech.