Equality Act 2010 - Public Sector Equality Duty

The Equality Act 2010 (the Act) replaced previous anti-discrimination laws with a single Act. It simplified the law, removing inconsistencies and making it easier for people to understand and comply with. It also strengthened the law in important ways, to help tackle discrimination and inequality.

The public sector Equality Duty (section 149 of the Act) came into force on 5 April 2011. The Equality Duty applies to public bodies and others carrying out public functions. It supports good decision-making by ensuring public bodies consider how different people will be affected by their activities, helping them to deliver policies and services which are efficient and effective, accessible to all, and which meet different people’s needs.

The Equality Duty is supported by specific duties, set out in regulations which came into force on 10 September 2011. The specific duties require public bodies to publish relevant, proportionate information demonstrating their compliance with the Equality Duty; and to set themselves specific, measurable equality objectives.

Publishing relevant equality information makes public bodies like Broxbourne transparent about our decision-making processes, and accountable to our service users. It will give the public the information they need to hold us to account for our performance on equality. 

The Equality Duty covers the following ‘protected characteristics’: age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and sexual orientation. The duty to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination also covers marriage and civil partnerships.  This section provides information on the Council’s workforce and how the composition of this compares to that of the local population as they relate to the protected characteristics.