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Home | Equality Duty: Proposals for public sector implementation
Equality Duty: Proposals for public sector implementation
24 June 2009
The Equality Bill makes provision for a new, single equality duty to be imposed on public bodies and those exercising public functions. It is expected that the new Equality Duty will apply from April 2011.
The Equality Duty - currently going though Parliament - will combine existing race, gender and disability equality duties, and also cover age, religion or belief, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity.
Under the Equality Duty public bodies will have a legal obligation to have regard to the following factors when exercising their functions:
- the elimination of discrimination
- the advancement equality of opportunity
- the promotion of good relations between different groups
Enforcement of the Equality Duty will be either through judicial review or the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
The Government's main aim in introducing the Equality Duty is to ensure that promoting equality becomes part of public bodies' core business.
The Bill sets out a list of generic public authorities that will be subject to the Equality Duty: government departments (including their agencies), educational establishments, local authorities, NHS bodies, and police and fire and rescue services. Other bodies will be added following consultation.
There will be further specific duties set out in secondary legislation that are intended to help public bodies meet their obligations under the Equality Duty in an effective and proportionate way. These will not be imposed on all public bodies but only those which are responsible for delivering important public services.
The Government Equalities Office has published a consultation paper on these specific duties, called Equality Bill: Making it work, policy proposal for specific duties. It seeks views on the criteria for deciding which public bodies should be subject to the specific duties as well as the form and content of those duties.
The consultation paper makes it clear that the Government wants to switch the current focus on process and ‘box ticking' to outcomes. Public bodies will therefore no longer be required to publish formal equality schemes. The specific duties are intended to be flexible, light touch and proportionate.
Four key principles will underpin the specific duties:
- use of evidence
- consultation and involvement
- transparency
- capability
Use of evidence
Public bodies will need to be clear about their own functions and to know the people they employ and serve, who is using their services and who is not, who is satisfied with the services and who is not, what outcomes are being achieved for different groups, whether tension exists between certain groups, whether any people they serve are experiencing prejudice or intolerance, and whether certain groups are experiencing disadvantage.
Consequently, mechanisms for obtaining and using data will become very important for public authorities.
Consultation and involvement
This will involve taking account of the views of employees, service users and stakeholders from different groups.
Transparency
This is intended to enable all employees and service users to see progress and hold public bodies to account.
Capability
This involves strong leadership and commitment within public bodies.
The specific duties
The proposals for the specific duties include:
- public authorities should develop and publish equality objectives and set out the steps they intend to take to achieve them
- the equality objectives should be set by reference to relevant evidence and the requirements of the Equality Duty
- equality objectives should also take into account any priority areas directed by the Secretary of State
- public authorities should report annually on progress against their objectives
- equality objectives should be reviewed every three years
- public bodies with 150 or more employees should report on ethnic minority and disability employment rates and the gender pay gap (but they will not be required to report on the other strands under the Equality Duty)
- public bodies should consult and involve employees, service users and other relevant groups in setting objectives, developing an action plan and reviewing progress
Public procurement
Approximately £175bn is spent by the public sector every year on goods and services. It has therefore been recognised by the Government that public bodies can use the public procurement process to help towards achievement of their equality objectives.
There will be a further set of specific duties to help public bodies use the procurement process to contribute to the delivery of their equality objectives. Contracting authorities will be required to:
- set out details of how their public procurement activities will contribute towards the achievement of their equality objectives
- consider the use of equality-related award criteria where these are proportionate
- consider incorporating equality-related contract conditions where these are proportionate
The consultation period ends on 30 September 2009.
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Jon Bartley
Partner
T: 03700 86 8730
I: +44 (0)118 965 8730
E: jonathan.bartley@shoosmiths.co.uk