Minister publishes regulations on public sector equality duty
The government has published regulations on the new public sector equality duty and called on public sector bodies to take steps to prepare for the new regime when it comes into effect on 6 April 2011.
Created as part of the Equality Act 2010, the duty will replace and simplify three separate duties that require government departments, local authorities and other public bodies to take into account gender, race and disability equality both as employers and when making policy decisions and delivering services. The public sector equality duty will also extend to cover age, religion and belief, sexual orientation and gender reassignment.
Although the duty comes into effect on 6 April, most bodies will have until 31 July this year to start publishing information. Schools have until December 2011 to start publishing equality data.
The call for action came as the Equality and Human Rights Commission published non-statutory guidance on the duty, setting out the responsibilities of public sector bodies in England and non-devolved bodies in Scotland and Wales. This can be downloaded here.
The EHRC’s non-statutory guidance on compliance covers:
- An essential guide to the public sector equality duty
- Equality analysis
- Engagement
- Equality objectives
- Equality information.
The guides are meant to be a practical explanation of what can be done to meet the duty. But they do not have legal standing like the statutory Code of Practice on the duty, which is to be published later in 2011 and can be used as evidence in legal proceedings under the Act. The guides can be referred to but courts do not have to take them into account when making a decision.
“We therefore recommend that public authorities use the Code as their key point of reference when seeking to clarify any legal issues,” the EHRC said.
The latest announcement follows a major shift in approach to the public sector equality duty unveiled last August. This saw the government ditch the previous government's proposal for a specific duty on public bodies to have regard to national equality priorities when setting their equality objectives. Instead the amount of information public bodies are required to publish in relation to their workforces and the services they provide was increased.
The coalition government also published its equality strategy in December 2010, which – amongst other things – allows employers to use positive action in recruitment and promotion.
Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone said: “Rather than setting targets about what Whitehall thinks is important, we’re shifting the balance of power to citizens so they can hold the public sector to account on issues that matter to them.
“That’s why we’ve completely rewritten the public sector equality duty – instead of being an inefficient burden that would simply have created more red tape, the new duty will make a real difference in the fight against inequality.”
Featherstone said public sector organisations needed to start planning now so they are ready when April arrives. “The new duty will make it much easier for public bodies to tackle inequality, but only if they understand exactly what is expected of them,” she argued.
The minister said voluntary and charitable sector organisations would have “a key role to play” – alongside members of the public – in holding the public sector to account.
As a result “senior staff at such organisations need to start thinking about what it means for them and how they can use the duty to improve equality for the people they represent”. Featherstone insisted that the new duty would provide greater support and protection than the three old duties it is to replace.
Sheila Kumar, the EHRC’s Group Director Regulation, said: “Our role as a regulator is to help public authorities understand what they need to do and help them achieve the desired outcomes. Meeting these requirements will help public authorities make sure their services are appropriate for their communities.
“Better informed decision-making and policy development should help public services become more efficient cost-effective and meet the needs of service users. Therefore, as well as being a legal obligation, it makes good business sense.”
More information on the new duty can be downloaded here.
