Late changes to equality legislation will create more work and less certainty

With the government's review of the public sector equality duty regulations for England drawing to a close today (21 April), the higher education equality body Equality Challenge Unit warns that the proposed changes will create more work and less certainty for higher education institutions, and could damage the progress of equality in the sector.

The government withdrew the draft specific duties of the public sector equality duty underpinning the Equality Act 2010 less than three weeks before they were due to come into force citing the need to 'reduce bureaucracy'. Higher education institutions had already begun detailed preparation for the new duties, including developing and resourcing new policies and systems.

Gary Loke, Head of Policy for ECU said:

'Higher education institutions were really getting to grips with the previously proposed regulations - a lot of detailed work had been undertaken across the sector. While hopefully not all the work will be wasted by this late change, much will have to be revisited.

The higher education sector has moved forward in its understanding of equality and diversity. The majority of institutions now see equality and diversity as a benefit to their organisations, their business and to their local communities, rather than a bureaucratic burden.

Indeed, at a time when HEIs are being required to publish standardised information to assist prospective students in choosing suitable courses, it would seem that clear and standardised information on their equality and diversity progress could only assist business, rather than be a burden.

The review proposes a reduction in the amount of detailed information that will be required to be published publicly. This will make it harder for members of the public and organisations to hold public bodies to account, but it may also result in HEIs having to respond to high numbers of freedom of information requests. Contrary to the aims of the policy review, this is likely to increase bureaucracy and costs as HEIs respond to each request.

We have concerns that the new regulations will not give a clear or detailed steer for HEIs on how to meet their legal responsibilities - something we know the HE sector would value. With such uncertainty about what is required HEIs will feel unsure of how to meet the general duty. Not only does this mean that some HEIs may unknowingly not be meeting their legal duties, it also runs a very real risk of increasing inequality in the higher education sector.'

ECU has submitted a full response to the policy review of the public sector equality duty for England:

• ECU response to The public sector equality duty: reducing bureaucracy