39-607: The Equality Act 2010 (c. 15), often erroneously called the Equalities Act 2010 , is an act of Parliament of the United Kingdom passed during the Brown ministry with the primary purpose of consolidating, updating and supplementing the numerous prior Acts and Regulations, that formed the basis of anti-discrimination law in mostly England, Scotland and Wales; some sections also apply to Northern Ireland . These consisted, primarily, of
78-501: A white paper , which is a clear statement of intent. It is increasingly common for a small number of Government bills to be published in draft before they are presented in Parliament. These bills are then considered either by the relevant select committee of the House of Commons or by an ad hoc joint committee of both Houses. This provides an opportunity for the committee to express a view on
117-653: A commitment to an Equality Bill in its 2005 election manifesto. The Discrimination Law Review was established in 2005 to develop the legislation and was led by the Government Equalities Office . The review considered the findings of the Equalities Review Panel, chaired by Trevor Phillips , which reported in February 2007. The Act is intended to simplify the law by bringing together existing anti-discrimination legislation. The Equality Act 2010 has replaced
156-485: A few, if any, are passed each year. Parliamentary authorities maintain a list of all private bills before parliament . Hybrid bills combine elements of both public and private bill. While they propose to make changes to the general law, they also contain provisions applying to specific individuals or bodies. Recent examples are the Crossrail Bill, a hybrid bill to build a railway across London from west to east , and
195-503: A general change in the law. The only difference from other public bills is that they are brought forward by a private member (a backbencher) rather than by the government. Twenty private members' bills per session are allowed to be introduced, with the sponsoring private members selected by a ballot of the whole house, and additional bills may be introduced under the Ten Minute Rule . Financial bills raise revenue and authorise how money
234-683: A hearing before the High Court of Justice , because the justice did not consider the case to be arguable. Act of Parliament (UK) King Charles III [REDACTED] William, Prince of Wales [REDACTED] Charles III ( King-in-Council ) [REDACTED] Starmer ministry ( L ) Keir Starmer ( L ) Angela Rayner ( L ) ( King-in-Parliament ) [REDACTED] Charles III [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Lord Reed The Lord Hodge Andrew Bailey Monetary Policy Committee An Act of Parliament in
273-557: A minimum consultation period of twelve weeks. Consultation documents are widely circulated (see for example the Home Office consultation on extreme pornography and the Scottish Government 's consultation on food policy ). The character of the consultation is shaped by the government's determination to press forward with a particular set of proposals. A government may publish a green paper outlining various legislative options or
312-531: A period of consultation will take place before a bill is drafted. Within government, the Treasury and other departments with an interest will be consulted along with the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Outside government, interested parties such as trade unions , industry bodies and pressure groups will be asked for their views on any proposals. The Cabinet Office Code of Practice specifies
351-409: A process of consultation, the sponsoring department will send drafting instructions to parliamentary counsel, expert lawyers working for the government responsible for writing legislation. These instructions will describe what the bill should do but not the detail of how this is achieved. The Parliamentary counsel must draft the legislation clearly to minimise the possibility of legal challenge and to fit
390-469: A specifically named locality or legal person in a manner different from all others. Private bills are "usually promoted by organisations, like local authorities or private companies, to give themselves powers beyond, or in conflict with, the general law. Private bills only change the law as it applies to specific individuals or organisations, rather than the general public. Groups or individuals potentially affected by these changes can petition Parliament against
429-418: A sub-category of private acts, which confer specific rights or duties on a named individual or individuals, for example allowing two persons to marry even though they are within a "prohibited degree of consanguinity or affinity" such as stepfather and stepdaughter. Private bills, common in the 19th century, are now rare, as new planning legislation introduced in the 1960s removed the need for many of them. Only
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#1732884937347468-436: Is designed to keep the business of government and public affairs up to date. These bills may not be substantial or controversial in party political terms. Two sub-classes of the housekeeping bill are consolidation bills , which set out existing law in a clearer and more up-to-date form without changing its substance; and the tax law rewrite bills , which do the same for tax law. An Act of Parliament will often confer power on
507-791: Is spent. The best-known such bills are the normally annual Finance Bills introduced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Budget . This usually encompasses all the changes to be made to tax law for the year. Its formal description is "a Bill to grant certain duties, to alter other duties, and to amend the law relating to the National Debt and the Public Revenue, and to make further provision in connection with finance". Consolidated Fund and Appropriation Bills authorise government spending. This type of bill
546-507: The 1976 Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Bill , which was a particularly controversial bill that was ruled to be a hybrid bill, forcing the government to withdraw some of its provisions to allow its passage as a public bill. Once passed, hybrid bills are printed as part of the public general acts. Parliamentary authorities maintain a list of all hybrid bills before parliament . It is important not to confuse private bills with private members' bills, which are public bills intended to effect
585-580: The Equal Pay Act 1970 , Sex Discrimination Act 1975 , Race Relations Act 1976 , Disability Discrimination Act 1995 , Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 , Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 and the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 . Polly Toynbee wrote that the bill, which was drafted under the guidance of Harriet Harman , was "Labour's biggest idea for 11 years. A public-sector duty to close
624-624: The Equal Pay Act 1970 , the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 , the Race Relations Act 1976 , the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and three major statutory instruments protecting against discrimination in employment on grounds of religion or belief , sexual orientation and age . The act has broadly the same goals as the four major EU Equal Treatment Directives , whose provisions it mirrors and implements. However,
663-603: The King in Council , a minister , or another public body to create delegated legislation, usually by means of a statutory instrument . Bills may start their passage in either the House of Commons or House of Lords , although bills which are mainly or entirely financial will start in the Commons. Each bill passes through the following stages: Although not strictly part of the legislative process,
702-513: The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 are covered by the Act. The Act was originally scheduled to run until the end of 2015. A statutory order to extend the deadline may be made if a draft has been laid before, and approved by resolution of, each House of Parliament. On 6 March 2008, Minister for Women Harriet Harman announced that the exemption would be extended until 2030 under
741-567: The Sex Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 1976 that outlaw sexual discrimination. The purpose of the Act allow political parties to select candidates based on gender to increase the representation of women in British politics. The Act applies to elections to: The Act does not apply to selection of candidates for the Mayor of London elections. Only political parties registered under Part 2 of
780-692: The United Kingdom is primary legislation passed by the UK Parliament in Westminster , London . An Act of Parliament can be enforced in all four of the UK constituent countries ( England , Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland ). As a result of devolution the majority of acts that are passed by Parliament increasingly only apply either to England and Wales only, or England only. Generally acts only relating to constitutional and reserved matters now apply to
819-742: The Act also offers protection beyond the EU directives, protecting against discrimination based on a person's nationality and citizenship and also extending individuals' rights in areas of life beyond the workplace in religion or belief, disability, age, sex, sexual orientation and gender reassignment . The act protects people against discrimination, harassment or victimisation in employment, and as users of private and public services based on nine protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership , pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. The Act includes provisions for single-sex services where
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#1732884937347858-474: The Act extend until 2030 the exemption from sex discrimination law, which allows political parties to create all-women shortlists . The exemption was previously permitted by the Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002 . The parliamentary process was completed, following a debate, shortly after 11 pm on 6 April 2010, when amendments by the House of Lords were accepted in full. In April 2008, Solicitor General Vera Baird announced that as part of
897-558: The Attorney General Baroness Scotland of Asthal decided not to sponsor a change in the law of succession, saying, "To bring about changes to the law on succession would be a complex undertaking involving amendment or repeal of a number of items of related legislation, as well as requiring the consent of legislatures of member nations of the Commonwealth". The published draft bill did not contain any provisions to change
936-536: The Lords. They will check the following: After this process, the bill is then ready for introduction. Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002 The Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002 (c.2) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . The purpose of the Act was to exempt the selection of candidates in parliamentary elections from the provisions in the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and
975-616: The Public Sector Equality Duty", noted that public authorities needed to have due regard to this duty when planning and undertaking procurement activities, stating in particular that when contracting out public functions, it would be usual to include contract conditions which specified how equality obligations and objectives were to be complied with. The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011 (SI 2011–2260), made on 9 September 2011, required public authorities to publish information to demonstrate their compliance with
1014-527: The Single Equality Bill, legislation would be introduced to repeal parts of the Act of Settlement 1701 that prevent Roman Catholics or those who marry Roman Catholics from ascending to the throne, and to change the inheritance of the monarchy from cognatic primogeniture to absolute primogeniture , so that the first-born heir would inherit the throne regardless of gender or religion. However, later in 2008,
1053-558: The United Kingdom, and although the position had been spelled out in the High Court in R (Amicus) v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry , a small number of Roman Catholic bishops in England and Wales made claims that they might in future be prosecuted under the Equality Act 2010 for refusing to allow women, married men, transgender people, and gay people into the priesthood. This claim
1092-586: The bill and propose amendments before it is introduced. Draft bills allow more lengthy scrutiny of potential legislation and have been seen as a response to time pressures which may result in the use of programme orders to impose a strict timetable on the passage of bills and what is known as 'drafting on the hoof', where the government introduces amendments to its own bills. With increased time for scrutiny backed up with considered evidence, draft bills may present governments with difficulty in getting their way. The sponsoring government department will then write to
1131-512: The bill in with existing UK, European Union and delegated legislation. A finished bill must be approved or scrutinised by the sponsoring department and minister, parliamentary counsel and LP. The final stage is the submission of the bill to the authorities of the House in which it is to start its legislative journey. In the Commons, this is the Clerk of Legislation and the Public Bill Office in
1170-417: The gap between rich and poor will tackle the class divide in a way that no other policy has... This new duty to narrow the gap would permeate every aspect of government policy. Its possible ramifications are mind-bogglingly immense." One cabinet member described it as "socialism in one clause". This part of the legislation was never brought into force, except for Scottish devolved authorities. Sections 104–105 of
1209-440: The largest category of legislation, in principle affecting the public general law applying to everyone across the entire United Kingdom, or at least to one or more of its constituent countries of England , Northern Ireland , Scotland , or Wales . Most public general acts proceed through Parliament as a public bill. Occasionally a bill is treated as hybrid . Private acts are either local or personal in their effect, applying to
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1248-757: The proposed bill and present their objections to committees of MPs and Lords." They include acts to confer powers on certain local authorities, a recent example being the Canterbury City Council Bill, which makes provisions relating to street trading and consumer protection in the city. Private bills can also affect certain companies: the Northern Bank Bill allowed the statutory right of Northern Bank to issue bank notes to be transferred to Danske Bank which had acquired it. Other private bills may affect particular companies established by Act of Parliament such as TSB Bank and Transas. Personal acts are
1287-515: The public sector equality duty and to identify one or more objectives which they thought they should work to achieve. In 2020, certain groups attempted to legally challenge the EHRC's Code of Practice on "Services, Public Functions and Associations", which attempts to provide practical guidance on implementing the Equality Act, concerning the advice that service providers should in general treat trans people as their acquired gender. The challenge failed to get
1326-482: The relevant policy committee of the Cabinet. The proposals are only discussed at a meeting if disagreements arise. Even an uncontroversial proposal may face administrative hurdles. A potential change in the law may have to wait for a more extensive bill in that policy area to be brought forward before it is worthwhile devoting parliamentary time to it. The proposal will then be bundled together with more substantive measures in
1365-434: The restrictions are "a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim". In the case of disability, employers and service providers are under a duty to make reasonable adjustments to their workplaces to overcome barriers experienced by disabled people. In this regard, the Equality Act 2010 did not change the law. Under s.217, with limited exceptions the Act does not apply to Northern Ireland . The Labour Party included
1404-480: The same Bill. The Ministerial Committee on the Legislative Programme (LP), including the leaders and government chief whips in both houses, is responsible for the timetable of legislation. This committee decides which house a bill will start in, recommends to the Cabinet which proposals will be in the King's Speech , which will be published in draft and how much parliamentary time will be required. Following
1443-533: The succession laws. Male-preference primogeniture for the British monarchy was instead abolished separately three years after the Equality Act came into force, with the enactment of the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 . Although the act was never going to change the law with regard to churches from its existing position, nor change the binding European Union law which covers many more Roman Catholics than those living in
1482-410: The whole of the United Kingdom . A draft piece of legislation is called a bill . When this is passed by Parliament and given royal assent , it becomes an act and part of statute law . Acts of Parliament are classified as either "public general acts" or "local and personal acts" (also known as "private acts"). Bills are also classified as "public", "private", or "hybrid". Public general acts form
1521-741: Was rejected by the government. A spokesman said an exemption in the law "covers ministers of religion such as Catholic priests" and a document released by the Government Equalities Office states that "the Equality Bill will not change the existing legal position regarding churches and employment". The legislation was also criticised by Anglican clergy. Certain employment is exempted from the Act, including: The duty set out in section 149 requires those public authorities which are subject to it to have due regard to three aims: The Cabinet Office 's Information Note 1/13 , "Public Procurement and
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