Government consults on the public sector equality duty

The Government Equalities Office has launched a consultation on the public sector equality duty under the Equality Act 2010. The consultation document is asking for views on draft regulations on the specific equality duties, and on which public bodies will be subject to those duties. 

The general equality duty requires public bodies to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between different groups. The general duty is expected to come into force in April 2011. The specific duties are aimed at helping public bodies to meet their obligations under the general equality duty, and to make them more accountable to the public. 

The consultation document shows a change of direction from the previous Government’s proposals in relation to the specific duties. One change is that there will be no specific duties on procurement or action planning. The aim is to cut out "unnecessary regulation" and make it possible to judge public bodies on their results, not on their internal processes. 

The specific duties proposed in the consultation are:

  • Publication of information: public bodies must publish information (at least annually) relating to their performance of the general equality duty, including:
    • information relating to the protected characteristics of the workforce, if the public authority has 150 or more employees (the Equality and Human Rights Commission's code of practice will set out what data should be published and this is expected to include data on the gender pay gap, the proportion of staff from ethnic minority communities and the distribution of disabled employees throughout an organisation's structure);
    • impact assessments on their policies and practices;
    • information that they took into account when carrying out impact assessments on their policies and practices; and
    • details of engagement undertaken with interested parties. 
  • Equality objectives: public bodies must set equality outcome objectives, at least every four years, informed by the evidence and data that they publish, which will help them to fulfil their obligations under the general duty. 

The consultation document sets out transitional provisions for the implementation of the specific duties. The specific duties relating to publishing equality-related data are expected to come into force from April 2011, but public bodies will not be expected to publish equality objectives until a year after the duties have come into force (ie not before April 2012). 

The consultation closes on 10 November 2010. 

Also

Equality Act 2010 The XpertHR forthcoming law section explains the changes that will be brought in by the Equality Act 2010 and links to further guidance on the implementation of the Act.