Meeting the requirements of specific duties – now the spotlight is on schools

New research from Race on the Agenda (ROTA) shows that free schools are failing to comply with statutory requirements on equality. Are you meeting your duties to publish equality information and equality objectives?

 In my December 2012 edition of equality news, and again in October 2013 edition, I commented on the outcomes of sampling exercises conducted by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). This looked at how public authorities in England have met their specific duties, under the Equality Act 2010, to publish equality information and equality objectives. Colleges and Universities were sampled, but not schools.

Now schools have been investigated, and research from Race on the Agenda (ROTA) shows that many free schools are failing to comply with statutory requirements on equality.

The Equality Act 2010 requires that all schools, by 6 April 2012, should have published information to demonstrate their compliance with the specific duties, and should have published specific and measurable equality objectives.

ROTA's report, based on a survey undertaken in October 2013 of the 78 free schools that opened in 2011 and 2012, finds that:

• Only two of them are fully meeting the requirement to publish equality information and measurable equality objectives.
• Only six (7.7%) have published at least one equality objective - a poorer level of compliance than other types of schools.
• Most free schools appear to be unaware of the Equality Act 2010 and the equality duty, with less than a quarter (23.1%) making reference to the Act in key policies and documents.
• Two-fifths of free schools (39.7%) are failing to identify prejudice-related bullying and/or derogatory language in their anti-bullying or behaviour policies.

The research appears soon after the recent Ofsted inspection of the Al-Madinah free school in Derby, which found that statutory requirements, including those on equality, were not being met.

The research report provides detailed findings and recommendations for free school governors, the Department for Education, the New Schools Network, Ofsted and the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Recommendations include:

• Free school governors should take steps to ensure that they know and understand what the Equality Act 2010 requires.
• Ofsted should make compliance with the public sector equality duty a focus of school inspection.
• The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) should determine and publish how it would use its enforcement powers to require free schools to comply with the equality duty.

To download the report, click here

To download a summary of the data, click here

To download a press release, click here

In 2012 I released national guidance, on behalf of the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) to help providers understand their duties. Focusing particularly on colleges, this guide is essential reading for anyone with responsibilities for meeting the Equality Act 2010 specific duties. It contains a one page overall summary, five pages of essential reading, and further pages answering frequently asked questions about the duties. 

To download the guide, click here

To read my Oct 2013 equality news update on equality objectives, click here

To read my Dec 2012 equality news update on equality information, click here