Assessing equality impact

[ch 2: page 14]

In Scotland and Wales there a legal requirement on authorities to carry out a formal Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) of proposed policies and decisions. In England they do not, but they must take a properly informed, rational view of the likely impact they will have on equality.

The EHRC does not prescribe how authorities should meet this requirement but does provide detailed guidance, which says that “assessing impact on equality should be an integral part of policy development and decision-making”. It also “strongly” advises them to “document how you considered the impact of your policy, and how that informed your decision-making”.

The guidance is contained in Meeting the duty in policy and decision-making, available on the EHRC website.

The TUC urges reps to push employers to carry out formal EIAs as the best method of complying with the duties. The TUC’s Equality Duty Toolkit suggests that, when an employer is considering a decision or policy, the union should:

• check whether the employer’s existing policies include a commitment to undertaking a formal EIA;

• If yes, then push for information on how it will be done;

• If no, ask how it intends to demonstrate that it has “had due regard to equality”. The toolkit includes a draft letter to send to a public body that is not intending to do an EIA.