• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation
• Advance equality of opportunity
• Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
In order to meet this requirement in relation to gender equality, public bodies will be required to:
• Remove or minimise disadvantages suffered by women or men due to their gender
• Take steps to meet the specific needs of women or men where these differ
• Encourage women and men to participate in public life or in other activities where their participation is disproportionately low.
The ‘general equality duty’ described above came into force on 5 April 2011 across Scotland, England and Wales. Specific, additional equality duties that will apply to public authorities in Scotland will be set out in The Equality Act (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations.
A draft of these Regulations was considered by the Scottish Parliament Equal Opportunities Committee in March 2011. Following lobbying by some equalities organisations and individuals, the Committee chose not to recommend approval of these draft Regulations, which were subsequently withdrawn. The main concerns of lobbying organisations were that the proposed specific duties were too weak, that they would reduce the accountability of public bodies and that they would be in danger of creating a hierarchy of equality. The Scottish Government carried out a further consultation on revised draft Regulations during the latter half of 2011. It is expected that these Specific Duty Regulations for Scotland will be finalised and come into force during 2012.
In practice this means:
Policies that result in gender inequality should be re-examined and revised in light of the public sector equality duty.
Public sector bodies have the opportunity to lead by example – pushing forward changes in public service provision and employment practices.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission have further details on the public sector equality duty, including differences between Scotland, England and Wales.
