Public Sector Equality Duty
The Public Sector Equality Duty is made up of a General Duty which public authorities must abide by, as well as ‘specific’ equality duties which support them.
We have also set
Equality Objectives, which demonstrate how we will work towards achieving the aims of the General Equality Duty in the next few years.
The General Duty
The General Equality Duty is set out in the Equality Act 2010. It states that a public authority must, in the exercise of its functions, have due regard to the need to:
- Eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is published by or under the Equality Act
- Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and people who do not share it
- Foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and people who do not share it
The Equality Act defines protected characteristics as:
- Age
- Disability
- Gender
- Marriage or civil partnership
- Pregnancy or maternity
- Race
- Religion or Belief
- Sex
- Sexual orientation
The General Duty applies to all protected characteristics except marriage and civil partnership. However there is still a duty to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation for this characteristic.