Many parts of the Equality Act 2010 came into force on 1 October. SCVO has produced a brief to help voluntary sector organisations understand the importanceof the new Act, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission has produced a Starter Kit on the Act.

The Act includes a public sector equality duty – ‘the general duty’ – designed to help public authorities promote equality andtackle discrimination. Further ‘specific duties’ can be placed on public authorities to enable the better performance of the general duty. Scottish Ministers intend to make some additions to the list of bodies covered by the general duty, and to impose further ‘specific duties’ on some Scottish public authorities.