Equality Act 2010: Public Sector Equality Duty what do I need to know?

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Common misunderstandings aboutthe Equality DutyUnder the previous public sector equality duties (forrace, disability and gender), public bodies sometimestook unnecessary, inappropriate, disproportionate orcounter-productive action in the name of equality.The new Equality Duty should be applied in sucha way as to reverse the overly-bureaucratic andburdensome approach often used under theprevious duties, so that the focus is on performance,not process.4The Equality Duty does not imposea legal requirement to conduct anEquality Impact Assessment 2 . Nor isthere is any practical need to conduct one.Compliance with the Equality Duty involvesconsciously thinking about the three aims ofthe Equality Duty as part of the process ofdecision-making. That will entail understandingthe potential effects of the organisation’sactivities on different people, but there is noprescribed process for doing this. Keepinga simple record of how decisions werereached will help public bodies show how theyconsidered the Equality Duty. Producing anEquality Impact Assessment after a decisionhas been reached will not achieve compliancewith the Equality Duty.4The Equality Duty does not mean thatpublic bodies have to examine equalityissues where they are not relevantto the matter in hand. Where it is clearfrom initial consideration that a policy willnot have any effect on equality for any of theprotected characteristics, no further analysisor action is necessary. For example, if a publicbody is conducting a review in relation to anissue which has no implications for equality –such as an evaluation of the effect of coastalpollution on marine life – undertaking a formalconsultation or analysis addressing equalityissues where it is evident that the EqualityDuty is not relevant would be pointless and isnot required.4The Equality Duty does not requirepublic bodies to take disproportionateaction on equality. Public bodies shouldtake a proportionate approach whencomplying with the Equality Duty – in practice,this means giving greater consideration to theEquality Duty where a function or policy hasthe potential to have a substantial effect ondiscrimination or equality of opportunity forthe public or the public body’s employees, andless consideration where the potential effecton equality is slight.For example, a public body might decideto translate a leaflet about a key publicservice into a few commonly spokenminority languages, in order to ensurepeople from particular ethnic minoritycommunities have access to the service.2The specific duties which apply to relevant Welsh public bodies contain a requirement to make arrangements for assessing the likely impact oftheir activities on their ability to comply with the Equality Duty.8
But translating all of its public informationinto the 300 languages regularly spoken inLondon would be a disproportionateresponse to the Equality Duty.4The Equality Duty does not requirepublic bodies to treat everyone thesame. Rather, it requires public bodies tothink about people’s different needs andhow these can be met. So the Equality Dutydoes not prevent public bodies providingwomen-only services – for example, forfemale victims of sexual violence or domesticviolence. Indeed, such services may benecessary in order to ensure women haveaccess to the services they need.4The Equality Duty does not requirepublic bodies to treat all religions asbeing equal or to treat all religiousfestivals equally. For example, a publicbody displaying a Christmas tree every yearin its reception area would not be a breach ofthe Equality Duty.4The Equality Duty does not requirepublic bodies to make serviceshomogeneous or to try to remove orignore differences between people.So, for example, it does not mean that a publicbody must stop providing age-appropriateservices for people of different ages, or thatit can no longer commission some services tobe provided by different faith organisations.Faith organisations are sometimes well-placedto deliver services which meet the particularneeds of their community.EnforcementThe Equality and Human Rights Commission isresponsible for assessing compliance with andenforcing the Equality Duty. It has powers to issuecompliance notices to public bodies that have failedto comply and can apply to the courts for an orderrequiring compliance. The Equality Duty can also beenforced by judicial review. This can be done by theCommission or any individual or group of peoplewith an interest.9
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Equality Act 2010: Public Sector Equality Duty what do I need to know?

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