Hampshire Police Authority

Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 public sector Equality Duty, which came into force on 5 April 2011, ensures that all public bodies play their part in making society fairer by tackling discrimination and providing equality of opportunity for all. The duty ensures that public bodies consider the needs of all individuals in their day to day work – in shaping policy, in delivering services, and in relation to their own employees.

The new Equality Duty supports good decision-making – it encourages public bodies to understand how different people will be affected by their activities so that policies and services are appropriate and accessible to all and meet different people’s needs. By understanding the effect of their activities on different people, and how inclusive public services can support and open up people’s opportunities, public bodies are better placed to deliver policies and services that are efficient and effective.

The new Equality Duty covers the following protected characteristics:

  • age

  • disability

  • gender reassignment

  • pregnancy and maternity

  • race – this includes ethnic or national origins, colour or nationality

  • religion or belief – this includes lack of belief

  • sex

  • sexual orientation

It also applies to marriage and civil partnership, but only in respect of the requirement to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination.

The Equality Duty has three aims. It requires public bodies to have due regard to the need to:

  • eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Act;

  • advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it; and

  • foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.

There are also specific duties associated with the Act. These new information requirements and objectives are subject to further regulation.

Just as it is important to understand what the Act does do, it is also important to understand what it does not cover. The Equality Duty does not:

  • impose a legal requirement to conduct an Equality Impact Assessment.

  • require the publication of an equality scheme/action plan/annual report

  • require specific data to be collected on the characteristics

  • mean that public bodies have to examine equality issues where they are not relevant to the matter in hand.

  • require public bodies to take disproportionate action on equality.

  • require public bodies to treat everyone the same.

  • require public bodies to make services homogeneous or to try to remove or ignore differences between people.

Compliance:

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is responsible for assessing compliance with and enforcing the Equality Duty. It has powers to issue compliance notices to public bodies that have failed to comply and can apply to the courts for an order requiring compliance. The Equality Duty can also be enforced by judicial review. This can be done by the Commission or any individual or group of people with an interest.