Specific public sector equality duties come into force
The specific public sector equality duties came into force on 10 September 2011. The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/2260), which apply to public bodies in England and to the non-devolved public functions of public bodies in Scotland and Wales, provide for two specific duties: the duty to publish equality information and the duty to publish equality objectives. The specific duties are aimed at assisting public authorities in the better performance of the general public sector equality duty contained in the Equality Act 2010, which has been in force since 5 April 2011.
Under the specific duty to publish equality information, a public authority must publish information to demonstrate its compliance with the general equality duty, including, in particular, information relating to persons who share a relevant protected characteristic who are: its employees; and other persons affected by its policies and practices. The requirement to publish information about employees does not apply to public authorities with fewer than 150 employees.
The Regulations provide that public authorities (except schools) must publish this information no later than 31 January 2012, and subsequently at intervals of no more than one year. Schools have until 6 April 2012 to publish the information.
Under the specific duty to publish equality objectives, a public authority must prepare and publish one or more objectives that it thinks it should achieve to comply with any part of the general equality duty, no later than 6 April 2012, and subsequently at intervals of no more than four years.
- The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011 (PDF format, 30K) The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2010 are available on the Legislation website.
- Public sector equality duty Information about the general and specific public sector equality duties is available on the Home Office website.
Separate Regulations relating to specific duties for public bodies in Wales in relation to their devolved public functions came into force on 6 April 2011. The specific duties for relevant Welsh public bodies are significantly more detailed than those proposed for English public bodies, and include duties to carry out impact assessments on policies and practices, to publish strategic equality plans and to report on compliance with the general equality duty. The Scottish Government is consulting on specific duties in relation to relevant Scottish public bodies.
- The Equality Act 2010 (Statutory Duties) (Wales) Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/1064) The Regulations providing for the specific duties in Wales are available on the Legislation website.
- Scottish Government consultation on revised draft Regulations for specific duties Details of the consultation on specific duties for Scottish public authorities are available on the Scottish Government website.
Also
Survey: Public sector equality duty 2011 Take part in the XpertHR research into the public sector equality duty and its impact on public bodies and private sector bodies with public functions.
The following questions on the public sector equality duty are included in the XpertHR FAQs section:
- What is the general public sector equality duty under the Equality Act 2010?
- Which employers must comply with the specific public sector equality duties under the Equality Act 2010?
- Do private sector organisations that carry out public functions have to publish equality information about their staff?
- What are the specific public sector equality duties in Wales?