Public bodies alerted to shake-up in sex bias law

Published on Thursday 1 February 2007 11:56

SCOTLAND'S public bodies were put on alert today ahead of new duties which will require them to promote gender equality and eliminate sex discrimination.

Councils, police forces, quangos and the health service are among the organisations covered by the new "gender equality" duty which comes into effect in April.

The Equal Opportunities Commission said it meant instead of relying on complaints from individuals who feel they have been the victim of discrimination, public bodies would have to be proactive in tackling sex inequality.

Ministers today placed an order in the Scottish Parliament, paving the way for the new rules. It is the first time Scotland has introduced different equality legislation from the rest of Great Britain.

And the EOC said that Scottish law was stronger than in the rest of Britain, including a requirement for Scottish ministers to publish three-yearly "state of the nation" overviews of gender equality with suggestions for next steps to be taken across the public sector.

Rowena Arshad, Edinburgh-based EOC Scotland Commissioner, said: "The gender equality duty is the most significant change to sex equality legislation in 30 years and its implications for Scotland's public sector are huge.

"For the first time it is up to the leaders of our public services to take responsibility for ending sex discrimination and inequality."

She said measures to remove discrimination in employment were crucial in tackling the current pay gap between men and women of 14 per cent for full-time workers and 38 per cent for part-time workers.