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02 June 2011 / Charles Pigott
Issue: 7468 / Categories: Features , Public , Discrimination , Human rights , Employment
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Signs of retreat

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Is the government backtracking on equality duties, asks Charles Pigott

IN BRIEF

  • The latest version of the “quick start” guide to the public sector equality duty has been issued, six weeks after the government’s policy review paper.
  • They signal that the specific duties imposed on public sector bodies in England under the Equality Act 2010 will be less onerous than under previous legislation.

One of the most significant changes introduced by the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010) was the introduction of a public sector equality duty which embraced not only the three strands where such a duty already applied (race, sex and disability) but five additional protected characteristics: age, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, and sexual orientation. The duty is set out in s 149 of EqA 2010 and came into effect on 5 April 2011.

Section 149 spells out the matters to which a public authority must have “due regard” in the exercise of its functions, and also makes it clear that the same duty applies

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