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Foundation e-Learning · EL-102 Law & legal framework

An Introduction to the Law of Equality.

Being able to prove that the Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) has informed decision making and good governance to defend a legal challenge is crucial.

Starting point No prior knowledge required
01 Why it matters

Where challenges start

The Public Sector Equality Duty is often the weakest link in the process of public sector involvement and the first place that campaign groups and lawyers look to raise a legal challenge. Case Law demonstrates that the failure of decision makers to consider the impact of change on protected groups can lead to a reputationally damaging and lengthy pause in change implementation.

The need for a sound EqIA which has been informed by meaningful data and people with lived experience is the key to success. But the benefits of really paying due regard to three elements of the duty are better services, which meet people’s needs, increased efficiency and better outcomes for the population.

An understanding of the duties and compliance with The Bracking Principles are fundamentals in equality as the Gunning Principles are to good consultation.

This is the introductory course. The Law of Equality covers the same ground in more depth, and the intermediate workshop Applying the Equality Duty applies it to your own project.

02 What's covered

By the end of the session you understand

Five topics, worked in about forty-five minutes. Stop and return as often as you need.

01
The Equality Act 2010 and the public sector equality duty (PSED)The statutory duty, and what it obliges a public body to do: the protected characteristics it covers, the three limbs of section 149, and the requirement to have due regard to them at the point a decision is taken rather than after it.
02
The protected characteristics defined in the ActThe nine characteristics the duty attaches to: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation, and what each one asks you to consider when you plan who to reach.
03
Additional groups to considerThose outside the nine who still have to be reached: carers, people on low incomes, those in rural or isolated areas, and anyone whose circumstances make the standard channels hard to use, together with the socio-economic duty where it applies.
04
The legal tests and principles from Common LawWhat the courts have held, beyond the wording of the statute: the Brown principles and the case law that followed them, what counts as due regard in practice, and how an equality impact assessment is read when a decision is challenged.
05
Equality Impact Assessments (EqIA) as a tool to demonstrate that you have discharged your public sector equality dutyA written assessment of how a proposal affects each protected group, produced before the decision is taken: the evidence it draws on, the mitigations it proposes, and the fact that it is the record a court reads first when the duty is challenged.
03 Who is this course for?

Practitioners and decision makers.

For practitioners and decision makers and to gain a deeper understanding of the legal requirements of both developing best practice Equality Impact Assessments and using them to inform decision making.

04 How it works

Self-paced from the moment you enrol.

01
Enrol

Card at checkout, or ask to be invoiced. The module appears in your account the same day.

02
Work through it

Around forty-five minutes, on a laptop, tablet or phone. Stop and it remembers where you were.

03
Finish

Your certificate is issued at the end, and five CPD points go on your record.

04
Go further

The Law of Equality goes deeper, and CE-205 applies the duty to your own project.

07Before you enrol

Common questions

Anything not covered here, ask us. We answer the same day.

01

How long does the module take?

Approximately 45 minutes. It is self-paced, so you can stop and return, and your place is remembered.
02

When can I start?

As soon as you enrol. Nothing is scheduled, so you start when it suits you.
03

How do I pay?

Pay by credit card when you book, or email contact@consultationinstitute.org if you prefer to be invoiced.
04

How many CPD points does it carry?

Five tCI CPD points, logged against your record when you finish. Every e-learning module carries five, except the Law of Consultation which carries ten, and the free modules which carry none.
05

What comes after this module?

The Law of Equality treats the same duty at length. The intermediate workshop Applying the Equality Duty, CE-205, takes it further with a trainer. The foundation modules are the more basic level throughout, so either one is a step up.
06

Can we buy it for a whole team?

Yes. Organisation members hold five e-learning seats that anyone in the team can use. Tell us how many people you need to cover and we will set the team up.

Forty-five minutes on the duty, and the evidence to defend it

£95 for a single licence, five CPD points, and a certificate at the end.

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