Public Sector Equality Duty Statement
What is the Public Sector Equality Duty (the PSED)?
The Public Sector Equality Duty requires public bodies to promote equality. The relevant protected characteristics are-
- age
- disability,
- gender reassignment
- pregnancy and maternity
- race
- marriage and civil partnership
- religion or belief
- sex
- sexual orientation
Legislation and guidance
This document meets the requirements under the following legislation:
- The Equality Act 2010, which introduced the public sector equality duty and protects people from discrimination
- The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011, which require schools to publish information to demonstrate how they are complying with the public sector equality duty and to publish equality objectives
This document is also based on Department for Education (DfE) guidance: The Equality Act 2010 and schools.
THE EQUALITY ACT 2010
5.1 The general equality duty is contained in S149 of the Act and requires schools to have “due regard” to the need to:
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 those who do not, and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
5.2 Guidance is attached at Appendix A which provides a brief overview of the provisions of the Act, information about the Protected Characteristics and information about the different types of discrimination and other forms of unlawful behaviour. It is provided as part of our commitment to eliminating all forms of conduct and behaviour deemed unlawful by the Act.
5.3 Information about how this school complies with its general duty and how we incorporate all three strands of the general duty into school life on a daily basis is detailed in Appendix B.
5.4 We will assess equality implications in relation to all new school policies, procedures and projects as part of our on-going duty to have due regard to our general duty. This will help to ensure the school is not unlawfully discriminating against certain individuals or groups with protected characteristics in line with our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and in line with the Key Principles in section 3.3 of this policy.
5.5 The Governing Body, the Headteacher and SLT (as appropriate) will keep written records of all relevant decisions and actions where equality issues have arisen. This will help us to show that equality implications have been considered and that the school’s equality duties have been actively considered before, and at the time decisions have been made.