Navca and other sector bodies have written to Home Secretary Theresa May requesting to know how the government will ensure gender equality would be protected following the axing of the Women's National Commission.

In a letter on behalf of 30 sector bodies including Navca, the Fawcett Society, Amnesty International and Rape Crisis England and Wales,  Women’s Resource Centre chief executive and WNC commissioner Vivienne Hayes wrote of their “utmost disappointment and concern” at the government’s decision to close the WNC at a time “when discrimination against women remains rife in the UK”.

“The WNC’s contribution to government on behalf of women’s organisations and individual women throughout the UK is essential in terms of providing a connection to government and a platform for the voices of women and women’s groups from across the UK working to end discrimination and violence against women and girls,” reads the letter.

The letter, sent to May on the 14 October following the announcement of the 'quango cuts' on the same day, adds that the removal of the WNC would be contrary to the concept of the Big Society, stating that the organisation “is a clear example” of the Big Society in action.

The WNC is the only official national body working on women's equality in the UK.

“The WNC is a low-cost, high-contributing agency, critically placed to help the government achieve its Contract for Equalities promises,” Hayes said. “It is hard to imagine how the government will be able to achieve its commitments to popular inclusivity and gender equality in such an efficient way and for the same minimal funds.”

The WNC will close on the 31 December this year with its services being transferred to the Government Equalities Office. An ongoing consultation with WNC partners will take place in to how this move will take place.