The 2010 Equalities Act replaced the previously separate equality duties relating to race, gender and disability with one general public sector equality duty. The old duties had played an important role in helping public bodies consider the effects of their policies on protected groups in a way that many had never done before. The 2010 act sought to simplify the law and make equalities legislation easier to understand and comply with.
The question now being asked by government is whether or not the new general public sector equality duty is operating as intended; whether it effectively supports the government’s equalities strategy; and how it could be changed or improved.
This publication brings together a series of examples of how London's boroughs have not only secured real and measurable benefits by assessing their services through an equalities prism, but also acted to put equalities at the heart of their work.