Summary of story from The Guardian, July 8, 2011

The UK minister for equalities has warned government departments and local authorities that they will be in breach of equality laws if they do not examine the potential for cuts to fall disproportionately on women.

Lynne Featherstone rejected mounting criticism that the coalition government had a “blind spot” on women but, when asked to justify the fact that women were being hit hardest by public sector job cuts, said: “You can’t make an omelette without cracking eggs.”

Under the Equality Act 2010, a new equality duty was introduced in April dictating that any public body must have regard to the equality implications of its decisions.

She said: “The equality duty means that the public sector will have to look at who is losing jobs and how those jobs are being lost because there is a duty to do so with regard to the act itself.

Labour has mounted a campaign highlighting the impact of the coalition’s spending reductions on women, arguing they are bearing the brunt of the cuts because women rely more heavily on the state for benefits and are more likely to work in the public sector.

Featherstone said: “The coalition government is actually delivering an awful lot for women. There are some hard decisions we’ve had to take because the deficit is enormous.

She added: “That said, this government is doing more than what Labour did. If you look at rape support, under Labour two centres a year were closing. We are going to open four this year.

She also listed plans to extend to 15 hours the amount of free childcare available for two-year-olds from underprivileged families; £400m to pay for carers – who are more likely to be women – to take breaks; the right to request flexible working; and the fact that the new state pension will be linked to earnings, which should safeguard more money for women.

Featherstone cited improvements in the economy as reassurance for women losing public sector jobs that they will find employment in the private sector as it recovers.

“All of those things mean they will feed through to jobs for women and jobs for men,” she said.

“The expectation is that those jobs will be created in the private sector and women will be able to get jobs in the private sector. You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs. But, at the moment, we’re cooking.”

Fiona Mactaggart, the shadow equalities minister, accused the government of attempting to water down the equality duty in secondary legislation due to be debated in the House of Commons on Monday.

She said: “It’s extraordinary that she [Featherstone] would compare the loss of women’s jobs to cooking. Actually it’s people’s lives. It’s thoughtless and heartless.”