Equality Act

The Equality Act 2010 came into force on 1 October 2010. Section 149 of the Act, known as the Public Sector Equality Duty, was introduced on 5 April 2011.

The Public Sector Equality Duty requires the Council to:

• eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is unlawful under the Act
• advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristics and persons who do not share it
• foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristics and persons who do not share it

As part of these duties, the Council is required to publish information to demonstrate its compliance with its statutory duties on an annual basis (which commenced from the 31 January 2012).

To fulfil this, the Council has produced an Equality Policy to contain all its information to comply with its legal requirements.

On a regularl basis, a Public Sector Equality Duty Compliance Report is produced and published to demonstrate the Council's equality work.