Equality Duties
When carrying out their functions, all public authorities have statutory duties with respect to race, disability and gender equality. These equality duties all require public bodies to have ‘due regard’ to the need to eliminate discrimination and to promote equality.
Race Equality Duty
The Race Relations Act 1976 (as amended by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 and the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2003), the College has a general duty to have due regard to the need to:
- eliminate unlawful racial discrimination on the grounds of race, religion or belief
- promote equality of opportunity, and
- promote good relations between people of different racial groups.
Colleges also have the following ‘specific duties’;
- to monitor by racial group the recruitment and career progress of teaching staff in FE establishments (as defined in the Further and Higher Education Act 1992)
- Prepare and maintain a written race equality policy
- Assess the impact of its policies on students and staff from different racial groups
- Monitor the admission and progress of students
- Set out the College’s arrangements for publishing the results of assessments and monitoring
- Where reasonably practicable publish annually the results of assessments and monitoring.
Disability Equality
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 amended by the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, places a statutory ‘general duty’ on all public authorities to promote disability equality. This means that colleges must, in carrying out all functions, have due regard to their need to:
- promote equality of opportunity between disabled people and other people
- eliminate discrimination that is unlawful
- eliminate disability related harassment
- promote positive attitudes towards disabled people
- encourage participation by disabled people in college life, and
- take steps to meet disabled peoples needs, even if this requires more favourable treatment.
Colleges also have the following ‘specific duties’ in order to provide a clear framework for them to meet their ‘general duty’:
- to report annually on progress made, and
- to review and revise their Equality Scheme every three years.
In addition, each Scheme must include the following:
- a statement of how disabled people have been involved in developing the Scheme
- a method for assessing the impact of policies and practices on disability equality and where improvements can be made
- arrangements for gathering information on:
- the recruitment, development and retention of disabled employees
- the educational opportunities available to and achievements of disabled students
- details of how information gathered will be used, in particular when reviewing the effectiveness of action plans and preparing subsequent Schemes
- an Action Plan detailing the steps that are going to be taken to meet the ‘general duty’.
Gender Equality
The Equality Act 2006 amended the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 to place a ‘general duty’ on all public authorities, when carrying out their functions, to have due regard to their need to:
- eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment, and
- promote equality of opportunity between women and men.
Accordingly, the College is required to produce an Equality Scheme that makes clear:
- the values, principles and standards that guide our approach to gender equality
- the overall strategic aims and objectives adopted to promote gender equality
- clearly defined timescales and actions
- how often the scheme and action plan will be reviewed and reported on
- how we will handle complaints about the way we are meeting our duties or other complaints about gender equality matters
- our consultation strategy
- a prioritised list of functions in relation to gender equality
- our primary sources of information for assessing the impact of our policies on equality for women, men and transsexuals.
Our ‘specific duties’ in relation to Gender Equality are:
- to consult employees and stakeholders (including trade unions) as appropriate in drawing up our Gender Equality Scheme
- to take into account any information gathered or we consider to be relevant as to how our policies and practices affect gender equality in the workplace and in the delivery of our services
- when formulating objectives, to consider the need to have objectives to address the causes of any pay gap
- to monitor progress of clearly identified actions and publish annual reports on progress
- to conduct and publish gender impact assessments, consulting appropriate stakeholders, covering all major proposed policies and practices, developments in employment, policy and services
- to develop and publish an arrangement for identifying developments that justify conducting a formal gender impact assessment
- to review the implementation of the Scheme objectives at least every three years and revise accordingly.
Other Legislation
Leek College acknowledges that diversity and equality mean more than the promotion of race, disability and gender equality, and regards the following legislation as relevant to its Single Equality scheme:
Civil Partnerships Act 2004:
Provides legal recognition and parity of treatment for same-sex couples and married couples, including employment benefits and pension rights.
Employment Equality (Age) Regulation 2006
Protects against discrimination on grounds of age in employment and vocational training. Prohibits direct and indirect discrimination, victimisation, harassment and instructions to discriminate.
Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulation 2003
The directive protects against discrimination on the grounds of religion and belief in employment, vocational training, promotion and working conditions.
The Employment Equality (Sex Discrimination) Regulations 2005
Introduces new definitions of indirect discrimination and harassment, explicitly prohibits discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy or maternity leave, sets out the extent to which it is discriminatory to pay a woman less than she would otherwise have been paid due to pregnancy or maternity issues.
Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulation 2003
The directive protects against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in employment, vocational training, promotion, and working conditions.
Equal Pay Act 1970 (Amended)
This gives an individual a right to the same contractual pay and benefits as a person of the opposite sex in the same employment, where the man and the woman are doing: like work; work rated as equivalent under an analytical job evaluation study; or work that is proved to be of equal value.
Equality Act 2006
Establishes a single Commission for Equality and Human Rights by 2007 that replaces the three existing commissions. Introduces a positive duty on public sector bodies to promote equality of opportunity between women and men and eliminate sex discrimination. Protects against discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief in terms of access to good facilities and services.
Gender Recognition Act 2004
The purpose of the Act is to provide transsexual people with legal recognition in their acquired gender. Legal recognition follows from the issue of a full gender recognition certificate by a gender recognition panel.
Race Relations Act 1976
The Act prohibits discrimination on racial grounds in the areas of employment, education, and the provision of goods, facilities, services and premises.
Race Relations Act 1976 (Amendment) Regulation 2003
Introduced new definitions of indirect discrimination and harassment, new burden of proof requirements, continuing protection after employment ceases, new exemption for a determinate job requirement and the removal of certain other exemptions.
Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006
The Act seeks to stop people from intentionally using threatening words or behaviour to stir up hatred against somebody because of what they believe.
Sex Discrimination Act 1975
The Act makes it unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of sex. Sex discrimination is unlawful in employment, education, advertising or when providing housing, goods, services or facilities. It is unlawful to discriminate because someone is married, in employment or advertisements for jobs..
The Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations 1999
The Act seeks to prevent sex discrimination relating to gender reassignment. It clarified the law for transsexual people in relation to equal pay and treatment in employment and training.
These laws do not have general or specific duties associated with them in respect of the promotion of equality but they do apply to employment and the provision of further education. We will, therefore, seek to ensure that through our functions, policies and employment practices, we are not discriminating on any grounds covered by the above legislation.
