Regulator reminds UK government departments of equality duties

26 Nov 2025 12:47 PM

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has written to the majority of UK ministerial government departments, reminding them of their responsibilities under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). 

Under the PSED, government departments have a legal obligation to consider the likely equality impact of their policies, identify actions to address any negative equality implications, and monitor equality impacts on an ongoing basis. These steps will play a role in helping the Government to achieve its ambition of improving opportunity.

The PSED helps government departments to consider and meet the needs of people with the nine different protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010: age, disability, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, and marriage and civil partnership. The specific duty to set equality objectives can also help departments take action to address the biggest inequalities in their sector, whoever these are experienced by. By highlighting their PSED obligations to UK government departments – including  HM Treasury, Ministry of Justice and Department for Science Innovation and Technology – the equality regulator intends to improve compliance without escalation to formal legal action.

The letters to 15 UK government Permanent Secretaries follow the announcement of enforcement action against the Welsh Government last week. On 21 November, the EHRC confirmed it had signed a legally-binding Section 23 agreement and agreed a formal action plan with the Welsh Government, to address its non-compliance with the PSED.  

Last year the EHRC concluded its legally binding agreement with the Home Office, put in place after the Department failed to comply with the PSED when implementing ‘hostile environment’ immigration measures. In particular, it had neglected to fully consider the impact its policies would have on black members of the Windrush generation. The department made significant improvements including PSED training for all staff, improving equality considerations in advice to Ministers and clear senior level ownership of PSED compliance.  

The EHRC is writing to Departments to ensure that key Government work, such as the NHS 10-year plan, are informed by a thorough understanding of the different needs of the people they are being designed for.  

As Britain’s equality law regulator, we support the UK government’s  commitment to embed equality and opportunity in all its work. Key policies, such as the Government's ‘NHS Fit for the Future’ mission or it's SEND reforms, must benefit from thorough equality consideration.

“Compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty is an effective way of achieving this and that is why the EHRC is reminding government departments of their legal obligations under the PSED. Fulfilling these obligations will help the Government to achieve its own stated mission of breaking down barriers to opportunity.

“It is especially important that departments think carefully about the likely equality impacts as they develop new policies, to proactively identify potential problems and take action to ensure they do not impact anyone unfairly.  

“We hope to build positive collaborative relationships as we support departments with their compliance, avoiding use of our legal enforcement powers. Where necessary we will take action to enforce the duty, as we have done recently with the Welsh Government.”

John Kirkpatrick, Chief Executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission

In the letters, the EHRC sets out how it will monitor UK government departments’ compliance with the PSED over the coming year.

Steps include reviewing evidence that ministerial departments’ have published equality information annually, as they are obliged to do, as well as specific measurable equality objectives. The EHRC will engage with departments responsible for developing equality related policy and programmes which require particularly robust compliance.  

The equality regulator also recently engaged with 42 Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) across England to embed the PSED into their work. This engagement ensured that the ICBs considered a range of equality and human rights challenges, including the inappropriate detention of people with learning disabilities and autism and digital exclusion. Following the EHRC’s intervention, all 42 ICBs demonstrated that they were meeting their PSED requirements.