Following the publication of the Macpherson report, the UK government passed legislation which imposed an obligation on public bodies to promote race equality by publishing an Equality Scheme. Under these Schemes, employers must design an action plan to promote equality, and have a duty to report on these action plans. Recent legislation expanded the duty to promote disability and gender equality.

Codes of Practice give information on  the process and content of Equality Schemes. However, the duties under each of the areas of race, disability and gender equality do not mirror each other, and care must be taken in making sure that each duty has been implemented correctly. Another area of concern for organisations is the fact that Equality Schemes must be presented correctly, or the equality commissions may investigate and find that the Schemes are not in line with the Regulations, which is unlawful. Recently, the Disability Rights Commission issued a news release stating that one in six public sector organistions could face legal action as a result of failing to meet the duty to promote equality for people with a disability. These failures were not just about organisations having produced an Equality Scheme; they included failures to consult properly and make Schemes available to the public.

Fraser Consulting can:

• review Equality Schemes to ensure that they are in line with legislation, and report on changes if necessary;
• advise on combining race, disability and gender schemes into one complete Equality Scheme. This will be a more user friendly document, and is the best approach for two reasons. Firstly, many of the action points in each Scheme, such as increasing awareness, are similar and can be combined to make one whole action point. Secondly, with the creation of the new combined Commission for Equality and Human Rights, it makes sense to take a take a combined approach to equality.