Those acts are:
- The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000
- The Disability Discrimination Act 2005
- The Equality Act 2006
- The Equality Act 2010 (replaced 2006 Act and Disability Discrimination Act)
The main issues of importance of these Acts are outlined below.
The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000
Under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 the District Council has a general duty to have due regard to the need to:
- eliminate unlawful discrimination;
- promote equality of opportunity;
- promote good relations between persons of different racial groups.
The Council also has the following specific duties:
- To prepare and publish a Race Equality Scheme with specific content.
- To identify the relevance of our current and proposed functions and policies to the general duty to promote race equality.
- To monitor for any adverse impact policies may have on promoting race equality.
- Make arrangements for assessing and consulting on the likely impact of proposed policies on promoting race equality.
- Make arrangements for publishing the results of the assessments, consultation and monitoring.
- Make arrangements for ensuring people have access to information and services.
- Make arrangements for training of staff on issues that are relevant to the general duty.
- To comply with a number of responsibilities as an employer relating to race equality.
The Disability Discrimination Act 2005
The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 introduced a new statutory duty which came into force on 5th December 2006. The Disability Equality Duty is a new way for public authorities to tackle disability discrimination in a practical way by introducing policies that actively promote opportunities and so prevent discrimination from taking place. The Council has the general duty to give due regard to:
- promoting equality of opportunity between disabled and other people;
- eliminate discrimination that is unlawful;
- eliminate harassment of disabled people that is related to their disability;
- promote positive attitudes to disabled people;
- encourage participation by disabled people in public life;
- take steps to meet disabled people's needs, even if this requires treating disabled people more favourably than other people.
The Equality Act 2006
The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 was amended by the Equality Act 2006 under which the Council has a Gender Equality duty to:
- eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment;
- promote equality of opportunity between men and women.
This duty will come into force on 6th April 2007. The gender equality duty aims to make gender equality central to the way public authorities work, in order to create:
- better-informed decision-making and policy development;
- a clearer understanding of the need of service users;
- better results and greater confidence in public services;
- a more effective use of talent in the workforce.
Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations 2003
This introduced new rights to protect people from discrimination in employment and vocational training on the grounds of religion or belief.
Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations 1999
Harassment on the grounds of gender reassignment, either by an employer or another employee, is considered to be unlawful discrimination.
Human Rights Act 1998
There are a number of articles which have a direct impact in regards to dealing with discrimination, respect for private and family life, and the right to a fair/public hearing (Articles 6, 8 and 14).
Employment Rights Act 1996
Employers under this Act have an obligation to protect employees at work against bullying or harassment.
Protection from Harassment Act 1997
While the Act does not specifically define harassment, it clarifies it as conduct which causes alarm or distress. This is subject to reasonableness.
Crime and Disorder Act 1998
This Act places a requirement on the Council and the police to work together with other key agencies and the community to develop and implement strategies which are designed to reduce crime and disorder. Under Section 17 of the Act, we have a duty to make sure that we have considered crime and disorder implications in the development of all our policies and strategies. The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 created a range of new racially and religiously aggravated offences.
Public Order Act 1986
This amended Act makes it illegal to use words, behave or display written material which is likely or intended to stir up racial hatred.
Malicious Communications Act 1998
This Act makes it an offence to send letters or messages to cause stress or anxiety to another if they contain indecent, offensive, threatening or false information.
Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003
This Act gives local authorities, together with the Police and other statutory agencies, additional powers to tackle anti-social behaviour.
Data Protection Act 1997
We have a responsibility to ensure all information obtained is collected and processed fairly and lawfully. We also need to keep information no longer than necessary, in a secure manner (this includes incident reports).
Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006
This made it a criminal offence to use threatening words or behaviour with the intention of stirring up hatred against any group of people defined by the religious beliefs or lack of religious beliefs.
