Equality Bill: consultation on the specific duties

The Government Equalities Office launched a consultation on the specific duties of the Equality Bill on 11 June 2009. The consultation period closed on Wednesday, 30 September 2009.

You can download the consultation document here:

• Equality Bill: Making it work. Policy proposals for specific duties - a consultation (PDF)

ECU submission

ECU's formal response on behalf of the higher education sector is now available. The response has been informed by views shared by the sector at two consultation events in London and Leeds, attended by over 125 delegates. Responses provided by Welsh institutions at an event held in Swansea also fed into and shaped ECU's response. Institutions were also invited to submit their views to ECU throughout the consultation period. The submission seeks to represent the majority views of the sector, as it has not been possible to capture all viewpoints.

ECU’s key messages regarding the current proposals are:

• Equality objectives should be set in respect of evidence of most need. To achieve this, ECU recommends a specific duty to prescribe the development of an evidence base that covers all the protected characteristics (e.g. sexual orientation and religion and belief).
• There is a regression on the current specific duties for monitoring and analysis as a way of identifying priorities for action e.g. a lack of any specific reporting requirement on students. Whilst ECU believes that the collection of unnecessary data should be avoided, a requirement to report on more extensive, relevant, equality data will encourage HEIs to be transparent, and benchmark against each other.
• Although ECU agrees that there should be a greater emphasis placed on the outcomes of considering the impact of policy design on equality, ECU recommends that the general duty does contain some underpinning procedural requirements for impact assessment. 
• HEIs should state how they will ensure equality factors are considered as part of their procurement activities. A service delivery choice should be made that complies most fully with the equality duty requirements. Contractors should be asked detailed questions about their equality policies and practices, and tangible evidence that they promote equality in their employment practices should be obtained

You can download ECU's full submission here:

• ECU submission to Equality Bill: Making it work. Policy proposals for specific duties - a consultation (Word)
• ECU submission to Equality Bill: Making it work. Policy proposals for specific duties - a consultation (PDF)
  

Welsh Assembly consultation

Public sector duties affecting Welsh higher education institutions will be drawn up by the Welsh Assembly.

The Welsh Assembly is currently undertaking a 'listening exercise' to gather comments on how the specific public sector equality duties can make a difference in Wales.

Comments and issues raised by Welsh HEIs at a specific Welsh consultation event on the Equality Bill in Swansea will directly inform ECU's response on behalf of the Welsh higher education sector.  

Detailed proposals for the public sector duties are due to be published early in 2010 and will be open to a full public consultation. You can follow the latest news on the Welsh consultation on our dedicated page:

• Equality Bill: Welsh Assembly consultations
  

Further information

You can find further information about the Equality Bill, including briefings on the impact of the bill on higher education institutions in our dedicated Equality Bill section.

• Equality Bill section