Race Equality
Race equality is critical to delivering good-quality public services and better quality of life for everyone. The drive towards citizen-focused delivery recognises that the needs of individuals vary according to their particular circumstances. Understanding the needs of different black and minority ethnic (BME) communities and ensuring that they are treated fairly and with respect is one of the key factors to modernising public services.
Race Relations Act 1976
The Race Relations Act was introduced in 1976 to provide a legislative framework that would help to combat racism within society. The Act made it unlawful to discriminate against a person (directly or indirectly) on the basis of their race, colour, nationality or national or ethnic origin in the areas of:
- Employment
- Education
- Housing, and
- Provision of goods, facilities and services
Many people believe that the RRA protects only BME people, this is not correct. The RRA is in place to protect all racial groups from unlawful racial discrimination.
Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000
The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 came into force in April 2001. The Act strengthens and extends the scope of the 1976 Race Relations Act (it does not replace it) and states that public authorities in carrying out their functions shall have due regard to the need to:
- Eliminate racial discrimination
- Promote equality of opportunity
- Promote good race relations
The above three bullet points are known as the ‘general duty to promote race equality’. The Act also introduced specific duties on identified public authorities (which includes all unitary authorities):
- Development of a Race Equality Scheme – setting out the arrangements for meeting the general duty
- Employment duty – the authority is required to have in place arrangements to monitor and review employment practices in terms of race equality
In meeting the general and specific duties under the Act, authorities must:
- Meet the duty to promote race equality in all its relevant functions and policies
- Consider the weight to be given to race equality which should be proportionate to its relevance
To achieve this, organisations must:
- Consult with local BME groups about their policies
- Monitor and assess the potential impact of policies on BME groups
- Act upon the results provided and take remedial action
It is anticipated that the requirements of the Act (both the general and specific duties) will enable organisations to have arrangements in place which will, over time, challenge institutional racism and bring about a change in organisational culture, delivering positive outcomes for local people and BME communities.
Local authorities have developed Race Equality Schemes which set out the steps to be taken to ensure issues of race equality are considered as part of their policy and decision making processes. Copies of Race Equality Schemes are available from each authority.