Public sector to have duty to promote gender equality

The government has launched a consultation document which would introduce a public sector duty to promote gender equality.

Meg Munn, deputy minister for women and equality, said proposals laid out in Advancing Equality for Men and Women would help the public sector ensure it "leads the way in rights and attitudes when it comes to gender equality".

"This consultation is key to the public sector becoming the champion of gender rights," she said.

The public sector duty will require public authorities to:

• draw up and publish an equality scheme - this should identify gender equality goals and show the steps that authority will take to implement them
• develop and publish a policy on their equal pay arrangements - including measures to ensure fair promotion and development opportunities and tackle occupational segregation
• ensure that they assess the impact of new legislation, policies, employment and service delivery changes. These assessments must also be published.

The consultation document can be found at www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk