The Equality Act 2010 introduced a public sector equality duty for public authorities. The duty is underpinned by specific duties for England, Scotland and Wales. The specific duties for England commenced in 2011 and were replaced in March 2017 by the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017. The specific duties for England apply to higher education institutions, the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the Student Loans Company (including therefore Student Finance England).
This briefing provides detail about the equality duty and the specific duties for England, and highlights issues for institutions to consider in developing their approaches to meeting the requirements. It replaces ECU’s September 2011 briefing.
This briefing should be read in conjunction with an earlier ECU briefing published in 2012: ECU (2012) Equality Act 2010: implications for colleges and higher education institutions (revised)
Areas covered include:
- Equality duty
- General duty
- Due regard
- Specific duties
- Publication of information
- Equality objectives
- Examples of information to collect for staff and students
