The Equality Bill
The Equality Bill for England and Wales has been published. This follows the Government undertaking to reform and harmonise discrimination laws in the UK.
As well as harmonising discrimination laws, the Bill includes new duties including those on public authorities when carrying out their functions. e.g, the new single Equality Duty will require public authorities to assess the impact and accessibility of their services to people of all ages.
Government Consultation
UK
The UK Government Equalities Office has published two related consultation papers which both close on the 30th September 2009.
- Equality Bill: Making it work. Policy Proposals for specific duties
- Equality Bill: Making it work. Ending age discrimination in services and public functions
It is important public authorities are aware of the proposals in the consultations and take the opportunity to review the implications and respond where appropriate
The consultation papers explain the proposals and what compliance will be required, for example
Policy Proposals for specific duties include
- An action plan on areas the public authority identifies it needs to make things fairer and more equable and what steps it plans to take to address each point. The proposal includes an annual update to be published on what has been done and a new action plan every 3 years
- A requirement for public bodies with more than 150 employees to publish details on male/female pay and ethnic minority and disabled staff levels
- Public authorities to carry out equality impact assessments on policy proposals and demonstrate taking forward actions from the outcomes
- Changes to public authority processes for securing goods and services contracts to ensure their suppliers agree to adhere to special rules. For example, a council wants to pay an organisation to run an employment service for people with learning disabilities and ensure that at least one of the people in charge has a learning disability. It could only agree to let the organisation run the service, on the agreement this rule will be met
Ending age discrimination in services and public functions includes
- Considering private and public sector concessions and benefits
- What ‘positive actions’ could be allowed in the Bill, for example, allowing libraries to offer dedicated ‘silver surfer’ sessions to older people to help them learn how to access the internet.
- Exceptions under the specific age discrimination ban such as premises including social housing
Scotland
The Scottish Government has published a consultation on extending the public sector duty on socio-economic equalities in the UK Equality Bill to cover public bodies in Scotland. This consultation closes on the 26th October 2009.
A second consultation will be published in September 2009 covering the specific public sector duties to promote equality provided for in the Bill.
Next Steps
When responses to the consultations have been considered, the Government will refine the policy further. Further consultations are expected on secondary legislation and precise detail. Timely guidance will be produced, to help business, public bodies and individuals understand the new requirements.
- The consultations discussed above close on the 30th September 2009.
- The Equality Bill is expected to be re-introduced to Parliament in the coming 2009/2010 parliamentary year.
- The new public sector Equality Duty is expected to come into force in April 2011
- Legislation is expected to come into force on specific duties for financial services and all other services (with the possible exception of health and social care) in 2012.
The Government Equalities Office web pages of the Equality Bill with links to the consultation papers can be read in full at http://www.equalities.gov.uk/equality_bill.aspx
The Scottish Government Consultation on extending the public sector duty on socio-economic inequalities in the UK Equality Bill to cover public bodies in Scotland can be read in full at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/08/Socio-EconomicDuty
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