On 5 April 2011 the public sector equality duty (psed) came into force in England, Scotland and Wales. This duty replaces the existing race, disability and gender equality duties.
Find out more about the law by clicking the links below
ROTA's Equality Law Project website
Unions and using the Equality Duty
The TUC is a member of the DLA and has provided us with a number of examples from officers of trade unions within public authorities, which illustrate how trade unions have been able to secure greater equality of opportunity for public sector employees and service users using their established negotiating arrangements to secure compliance with the PSED:
Stop and search *
Following a study on stop and search in the Ipswich area, commissioned by Suffolk Police, the Ipswich and Suffolk Council for Racial Equality recommended the establishment of a Community Group to study stop and search forms and to feedback to the police. For several years ISCRE received funding by Suffolk Police to facilitate the Stop and Search Reference Group, which comprised about 20 people including a high number of young black men, the group most affected by police stop and search.
Holding public bodies to account in decision-making *
A Borough Council announced a change in their funding stream from race equality to community cohesion. This would have meant the cessation of a complainant aid and immigration service. The Northamptonshire Rights and Equality Council pointed out to the Council the issues their decision raised in respect of the Council’s duty to comply with the PSED. This resulted in mitigation of an increased offer of grant to resource both community cohesion activity and the complainant aid and immigration service.
Equality data and lessons from a equality adviser *
A public body and the benefits of embracing the Equality Duty
Priority challenges in one local authority [January 2013] *
Please find enclosed a short research briefing prepared by our School Improvement and Inclusion Team. This includes a one page summary of national research on the indicators of educational disadvantage facing Black Caribbean and Mixed Black Caribbean-White heritage students. It also examines the situation here in this authority and highlights that:
Information and objectives at one school *
EHRC research - Pacesetters initiatives, NHS East Midlands *
EHRC research - Race for Health initiatives, NHS Leeds *
NHS Leeds has launched a number of programmes and initiatives that promise to deliver on elements of the RED. A project board chaired by the Executive Director of Workforce and Development, along with commissioning and public health leads,
oversees the work. Annual reports on progress are produced for the Board. Progress to date includes:
EHRC research - Truth about TB Campaign, NHS Peterborough *
The Truth about TB Campaign involved interactive training for children and adults from the Pakistani community and health practitioners in the local area. Between January and December 2008 NHS Peterborough developed the pilot scheme ‘TB or not TB’ to establish training programmes for clinicians working in the community with high risk groups. Following significant increases of TB cases in Peterborough the pilot was developed to investigate levels of awareness within high risk communities.
