Only half of public authorities fully meeting equality info duty, says watchdog

Just one in two public authorities are fully meeting the specific duty to publish equality information on their workforce and service users, a report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission has revealed.

The watchdog described as “encouraging” a finding that 78% of authorities had taken some steps to publish equality information, but insisted that there was “still a long way to go”.

“For example, 16% of public authorities had either published out of date or undated information, and 6% hadn’t published any information at all,” it said.

Publication of equality information is compulsory in England for all public authorities listed in The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011. The deadline for publication was 31 January 2012.

A listed authority in England is required to:

  • publish information to demonstrate compliance with the general duty. This information must include, in particular, information relating to people who share a protected characteristic who are its employees and people affected by its policies and practices; and
  • prepare and publish one or more objectives that it thinks it needs to achieve to further any of the aims of the general duty.

Probation services and police forces were the best performing sectors, while ‘national organisations’ were the worst.

Public authorities were more likely to publish information on employment (72%) than on service users (56%).

The EHRC said it would be writing to the 72 authorities that had published no equality information at all. It warned that it would consider using its formal legal powers to secure co-operation, if necessary.

The Commission recommended that “in order to adopt a best practice approach which makes transparency an integral part of their business”, all listed public authorities should:

  • “review the findings in this report and take steps to publish their equality information in line with the above best practice criteria;
  • consider how their own performance compares with the performance of other authorities in their sector and identify areas where they have not collected, used or published equality information, but where other authorities in their own sector are doing so;
  • consider where it would be proportionate to improve their equality data collection, and over what timescale, with a view to increasing transparency and to making informed decisions;
  • engage with staff and service users about the usefulness of their published equality information, and where any improvements can be made;
  • put in place clear plans to address any identified shortcomings, as quickly as possible;
  • review the case studies included in this report and any available on the Commission’s website;
  • remember that meeting the specific duty is not an end in itself, but a means to improve performance on the general equality duty.”

Mark Hammond, the Commission’s CEO, said: “It is important that decision-makers fully understand the implications of their decisions on equality and making sure they have the right information is a first step. Publishing the information helps everyone see how they are performing.

“Using the equality duty intelligently can help public authorities use their resources more efficiently, targeting their services towards those who could benefit the most, and potentially avoids legal costs and changes to policies at a later stage.”

A copy of the report can be viewed here.