Public sector Equality Duty

The new public sector Equality Duty came into force on 5 April 2011.

The Equality Duty replaces the three previous duties on race, disability and gender, bringing them together into a single duty, and extends it to cover age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity, and gender reassignment (in full).

The new Equality Duty requires public bodies to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations in the course of developing policies and delivering services. The aim is for public bodies to consider the needs of all individuals in their day to day work, in developing policy, in delivering services, and in relation to their own employees.

Specific duties

In addition to the general Equality Duty, set out above, Section 153 of the Equality Act gives the Government a power to impose specific duties on certain public bodies to enable them to perform the Equality Duty more effectively.

Draft specific duties regulations were laid before parliament on Monday 27th June. Subject to Parliamentary approval they will come into force before summer recess.

The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011

The draft specific duties will drive the better performance of the public sector Equality Duty, by reducing bureaucracy, increasing transparency and driving democratic accountability across the public sector.

A Written Ministerial Statement was published on 28 June 2011.

Written Ministerial Statement

An explanatory memorandum to the regulations is available here:

Explanatory Memorandum to the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011

A regulatory impact assessment is available here:

Regulatory Impact Assessment Equality

Schedule 19

Amendment Order

Prior to commencing the Equality Duty, the Government amended Schedule 19 to the Equality Act (which lists public bodies subject to the Equality Duty) to include some additional organisations. The relevant statutory instrument is below:   

The Equality Act 2010 (Public Authorities and Consequential and Supplementary Amendments) Order 2011  

Consolidated list

A consolidated list of bodies in Schedule 19 which incorporates the recent amendments can be found here:                  

Schedule 19 - (Consolidated)

Guidance

GEO has produced guidance to help public bodies comply with the Equality Duty.                                                     

Equality Act 2010: Public sector Equality Duty what do I need to know? A quick start guide for public sector organisations?

GEO will be publishing specific duties guidance for public bodies shortly.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance is available on their website: www.equalityhumanrights.com/psd.    Parts of this are being revised to incorporate the proposed regulations.