Equalities Legislation - Statutory Duties of Public Authorities

The Bar Council as a public authority is subject to statutory duties to promote race, disability and gender equality.

Bar Council approach to the three equality duties

The Council's Equality and Diversity Committee has set up a Working Group to develop a single Diversity Equality Scheme. This will:

Provide a race, gender and disability profile of the profession and of staff of the Bar Council and highlight the key race, gender and disability issues in relation to the Bar's functions;
Explain the choice of race, gender and disability objectives set out in the single scheme;
Take account of a review of the Bar's race equality scheme;
Take account of consultation responses on the interim Gender Equality Scheme and on proposals to meet the Bar's disability equality duties;
Incorporate action plans covering the Bar's race, sex and disability equality duties;
Set out plans for monitoring the impact of current and future policies and for reviews of the effectiveness of the Scheme.

Duty to Promote Race Equality – Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000

The Race Relations Act 1976 (as amended by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000) places a general duty on a range of public authorities including the Bar Council to promote race equality. The duty requires the Bar Council, with regard to its public functions, to have due regard to the need to:

Eliminate racial discrimination;
Promote equality of opportunity;
Promote good race relations between people of different racial groups.

The Bar Council is also subject to a specific duty to monitor its employment procedures and practices. It publishes annually its staff and recruitment data by ethnicity, gender and disability at Table 6 on this website. The current race equality scheme is under review and will be re-issued following consultation.

Promotion of Equality of Opportunity for Disabled People – Disability Discrimination Act 2005

The Act sets out a positive duty on public authorities to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people. These provisions came into force in December 2006.

The Bar Council is subject to the general duty which is defined by section 49(a) of DDA as follows:

Every public authority shall in carrying out its functions have due regard to:

a) The need to eliminate discrimination that is unlawful under this Act;
b) The need to eliminate harassment of a disabled person that is related to their disability;
c) The need to promote equality of opportunity between disabled persons and other persons;
d) The need to take steps to take account of disabled persons' disability, even where that involves treating disabled persons more favourably than other persons;
e) The need to promote positive attitudes towards disabled persons;
f) The need to encourage participation by disabled persons in public life.

Disability Equality Scheme

Following a review of the list of bodies required to publish and implement a Disability Equality Scheme, the DWP has announced that the Bar Council has been added to this list through amending regulations which came into force on 6th April 2007. The Bar Council is required to publish its Disability Equality Scheme and will consult on plans to meet its disability equality duties and is involving disabled people in the development of its Disability Scheme.

Gender Equality Duty — Equality Act 2006

The Equality Act 2006 amends the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 to place a statutory duty on all public authorities, when carrying out their functions, to have due regard to the need:

To eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment on the grounds of sex
To promote equality of opportunity between women and men

This general duty came into effect on 6th April 2007. The Duty applies to public authorities in respect of all of their functions, that is, as service providers, policy makers and employers. Public authorities are expected to pay 'due regard' to the provisions of the duty in all of their functions.

Specific Duties

In addition to the general duty outlined above, many public bodies including the Bar Council have specific duties to help them meet their obligations under the general duty. The English specific duties require each organisation to:

Prepare and publish a gender equality scheme, showing how it will meet its general and specific duties and setting out its gender equality objectives.
In formulating its overall objectives, consider the need to include objectives to address the causes of any gender pay gap.
Gather and use information on how the public authority's policies and practices affect gender equality in the workforce and in the delivery of services.
To consult stakeholders (i.e. employees, service users and others, including trade unions) and take account of relevant information in order to determine its gender equality objectives.
To assess the impact of its current and proposed policies and practices on gender equality.
To implement the actions set out in its scheme within three years, unless it is unreasonable or impracticable to do so.
To report against the scheme every year and review the scheme at least every three years.

Developing a Gender Equality Scheme

The Bar Council Equality and Diversity Committee Working Group has developed an interim Gender Equality Scheme and this can be accessed via the Consultations section of the Bar Council Website. It welcomes all contributions, comments and observations on gender issues relating to its regulatory and representational functions and duties as an employer. These should be sent to equalopps@barcouncil.org.uk and marked 'Gender Equality Scheme'.

Equality and Diversity Policy

The Equality and Diversity Code for the Bar provides information about the Bar Council's equality and diversity policies. Please click here to view this code. The Bar Standards Board’s Equality and Diversity Strategy and action plan can be accessed by clicking here.

Consultation

The Equality and Diversity Committee of the Bar Council welcomes comments and suggestions on its proposed Diversity Equality Scheme and will be organising consultation with stakeholders. Information will be placed on the website about consultation sessions and timescales. Please send observations to equalopps@barcouncil.org.uk marked 'Diversity Equality Scheme'.