Watchdog issues technical guidance on public sector equality duty

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has published new technical guidance on the public sector equality duty (PSED) contained in the Equality Act 2010.

The guidance on the PSED, which applies to 40,000 public authorities across Great Britain, covers:

  • An introduction to the public sector equality duty;
  • The general equality duty aims;
  • Tools available to bodies subject to the duty to advance equality;
  • Complying with the general equality duty in practice;
  • Complying with the specific duties; and
  • Enforcement.

The EHRC said its guidance, which can be viewed here, would help authorities encourage good relations, promote equality and eliminate discrimination in the workplace and in delivering public services.

“It will be invaluable to lawyers, advocates, human resources personnel, courts and tribunals, and everyone who needs to understand the law in depth, or apply it in practice,” it said.

The Commission pointed out that while the guidance was not a statutory code of practice, it could be used as evidence in legal proceedings.

It added: “The courts have said that a body subject to the equality duty that does not follow non-statutory guidance such as this will need to justify why it has not done so. However, such guidance does not in itself impose further duties to those set out in the statute.”

Ian Acheson, chief operating officer, said: “This guidance will play a valuable role in raising awareness of the public sector equality duty and clarifying what compliance looks like. It will help policy makers understand the requirement to have due regard to achieving fair outcomes for different groups when drawing up policies - rather than simply filling in forms at the end of the process.

“Intelligent use of the equality duty at all stages of the policy making process leads to better targeted resources, potentially avoiding costly legal challenges and changes of policy at a later stage.”

However, the decision to publish non-statutory guidance only was criticised by the Welsh Government’s Equalities Minister, Jane Hutt.

She said: "Whilst the publication of this guidance is welcome, the UK Government has not gone far enough due to the non-statutory nature of this guidance. The publication of this guidance has weakened the Equality Act 2010 so I question yet again the UK Government’s commitment to equality.

"In Wales we are serious about equality. We were the first Government in Britain to bring in specific equality duties as well as being the first UK Government to publish the assessment of the equality impacts of budgetary decisions.”

Hutt added: “Recently, we have undertaken our third Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Budget which allows us to ensure that the money we allocate and the policies we develop do not negatively impact on those within our communities who should be protected."