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Equality Act 2010 and Public Sector Equality Duty 2011

Equality Act 2010 (the Act) came into force in October 2010 and replaced a range of previous anti-discriminatory laws with a single Act. 

The Act identified nine protected characteristics and these are set out below and are covered by the Equality Duty: 

• Age
• Disability 
• Gender reassignment
• Marriage and Civil Partnership (but only in respect of eliminating unlawful discrimination)
• Pregnancy and Maternity
• Race – this includes ethnic or national origins, colour or nationality
• Religion or Belief – this includes lack of belief
• Sex
• Sexual orientation 

The Public Sector Equality Duty

The Public Sector Equality came into force on the 5th April 2011. The Equality Duty applies to NHS Bury and any organisations it has contracts with who carry out public functions on behalf of the Trust, for example, GPs, Dentists and Hospitals. 

The Duty has three aims these are:

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Act.
• Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.
• Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it. 

The Equality Duty is supported by Specific Duties which came into force on the 10th September 2011. The Specific Duties require the Trust to publish relevant, proportionate information demonstrating our compliance with the Equality Duty and to help us set specific, measurable equality objectives.
 
The Trust must publish its equality information by the 31st January 2012 and then annually thereafter.
 
What do we need to publish?

The information published must include:

• Equality information relating to our workforce who share protected characteristics.
• Equality information relating to the people who live in Bury as they are the people affected by the Trust’s policies and practices when buying or not buying health and social care services. 

What will we publish?

• The Trust’s Workforce Profile 
• The Equality & Diversity Annual Report 2010/11 and Equality Objectives Action Plan 2012
• The Equality performance improvement toolkit self assessment report 2011 
• The Equality Delivery System (EDS)
  NHS Bury will measure its performance using the new national performance toolkit. This will provide a benchmark of performance and help to inform our Equality Objectives annually. We will jointly measure performance across four goals: 1: Better health outcomes for all.  2: Improved patient access and experience. 3: Empowered, engaged and well supported staff. 4: Inclusive leadership at all levels.

Results of our assessment for 2011/12 will be available  in May 2012.

• The Equality Performance Improvement Toolkit – presentation 2011 

The Equality performance improvement toolkit – evidence 2011 

• Goal 1
• Goal 2
• Goal 3
• Goal 4
• Goal 5
• Public Health Annual Report 
• Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA)
• Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment 2010
• The Single Equality Scheme 

The Equality and Human Rights Minimum Standards for Contracts 2010/11 

• Diversity and Equality Quality indicators 2011 A guide for Public Authorities
• Equality schedule of contract 2011
• Equality Charter