Impact of the Equality Act 2010 on British society

Background

The Equality Act 2010 (EA 2010) came into force on 1 October 2010 with the aim of protecting people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society.

The act merged previous anti-discrimination laws—such as the Equal Pay Act 1970, Race Relations Act 1976 and Disability Discrimination Act 1995—into a single framework. It established nine protected characteristics aimed at ensuring dignity in employment, education, and access to services. It also introduced concepts such as the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) to promote equality in public decision-making.

Impact evaluations and inquiries Government Equalities Office Report 2013

A 2013 Evaluation of the Implementation of the EA 2010 produced on behalf of the Government Equalities Office reported “widespread support” for legislation that prohibited discrimination, in specific contexts, on the basis of characteristics such as sexual orientation and faith. However, its findings, based on surveys conducted one year after the act came into operation, indicated “a relatively low level of engagement overall with the Equality Act and the practices that it aims to promote”. According to the report, this did not detract from “evidence of substantial support for some protections, possibly reflecting the cumulative effect of past legislation”.

University of Liverpool report on the impact of the EA 2010 on charities

According to a research report on the impact of the EA 2010 on charities (PDF, 2013) by the University of Liverpool’s Charity Law and Policy Unit, the act “substantially altered the landscape for charities in the UK” as it “tightened the exceptions from anti-discrimination law that previously protected charities”. The report concluded:

Some parts of the charitable sector have been more directly affected by the Act, and have a commensurately greater awareness and (in some cases) understanding of its applicable provisions. Moreover, the differing size, legal structure and operation of charities leads to differing responses, with larger, professionally run charities having a more professional approach than the more typical ‘voluntary’ bodies, which are run by volunteers. Few charities have so far encountered legal problems with the Equality Act, but the Catholic Care case raises a spectre of the potentially drastic consequences of the Act for charities.

House of Lords Committee report on the impact of the EA 2010 on disabled people

On 11 June 2015, the House of Lords confirmed the appointment of an ad hoc committee “to consider and report on the impact on people with disabilities of the Equality Act 2010”. The Equality Act 2010 and Disability Committee’s report was published on 24 March 2016. The report stated that “combining disability with the other protected characteristics in one Act did not in practice benefit disabled people” and that disabled people’s rights were better protected under the previous legislation. However, the committee concluded that it would be “impractical” to try to reverse the changes by separating the legislation. Instead, they examined “how the Equality Act can be made to work better for disabled people”. The report made recommendations on the public sector equality duty; access to buildings, dwellings and transport facilities; access to justice; and the functions of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (summarised on pages 143-148).

In its July 2016 response, the then government disputed the committee’s findings about the EA 2010, arguing that the legislation provided “tangible protections of disabled people’s rights”.

In September 2021, the Liaison Committee published a follow-up report examining “the progress which has been made by the government and key stakeholders on the implementation of some of the recommendations” made in the 2016 report. The committee made further recommendations (summarised on pages 27-29) on PSED, reasonable adjustments and access to justice.

The then government responded to the Liaison Committee’s report on 29 November 2021, reiterating that the “government is committed to improving disabled people’s everyday lives” and arguing that the UK was “a world leader in this legislative area”.

Women and Equalities Committee report 2019

In July 2019, the Women and Equalities Committee published an inquiry report on Enforcing the Equality Act: the law and the role of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (PDF). The report stated:

… for equalities legislation to be more effective the burden of enforcement needed to shift away from the individual facing discrimination. This inquiry has confirmed that not only is this burden too high, but that that the individual approach to enforcement of the Equality Act 2010, and its predecessors going back to the 1960s and 70s, is not fit for purpose. While individuals must still have the right to challenge discrimination in the courts, the system of enforcement should ensure that this is only rarely needed. This requires a fundamental shift in the way that enforcement of the Equality Act is thought about and applied. We want to see a model that can act as a sustainable deterrent to achieve system-wide change that tackles institutional and systemic discrimination.

The committee made 22 recommendations which are summarised on pages 64 – 70 of the report. They include that:

• The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) significantly increase the volume, transparency and publicity of its enforcement work by making much greater use of its unique enforcement powers, publicising that work and reducing its reliance on individual complainants for the development of legal precedents.
• Each government department be put under a legal duty to ensure that the enforcement bodies (including regulators, inspectorates and ombudsmen) for which they are responsible are using their powers to secure compliance with rights under the EA 2010 in the sector for which they are responsible.
• The government bring forward legislation to make exemplary damages for discrimination claims more widely available in both employment tribunals and in county courts

In its October 2019 response, the then government stated:

Under the Equality Act 2010 … many individuals have taken cases to courts and tribunals, and as a result of specific judgments, the interpretation of the law has developed around almost every protected characteristic. In 2017/18 alone, 58,661 employment tribunal claims were made on the grounds of discrimination involving a protected characteristic.

That said, the introduction first of the reasonable adjustment duties to avoid disadvantaging disabled people, then public sector duties (consolidated and expanded into the Public Sector Equality Duty in the 2010 Act) and more recently the Gender Pay Gap Reporting regulations, have started a process of moving towards a “mixed economy” of compliance and enforcement. Increasingly, compliance is no longer simply a matter of avoiding behaviour which is perceived as being discriminatory, harassing or victimising, but also of complying actively with specific legal requirements with enforcement through judicial review (of public authorities) or the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

Trade Union Congress review 2020

The Trade Union Congress published a review on the 10th anniversary of the EA 2010. It charged the government to:

• Bring the socioeconomic duty into force
• Reintroduce protections subsequently taken out
• Publish equality impact assessments for all government policies as required by the law.

The review stated:

the full powers of the act have still not been implemented. And there is little evidence that the government is fulfilling its legal duty to consider the impact on inequalities in the decisions it makes.

EHRC Equality and Human Rights Monitor 2023

The EHRC publishes an Equality and Human Rights Monitor every five years to assess the implementation of the EA 2010. The most recent report, the Equality and Human Rights Monitor 2023, highlighted a number of findings including:

• Long-term equality trends that impacted people in Britain. These included socio-economic disadvantage concentrated in certain groups such as: disabled people and households, ethnic minorities, women.
• A “significant reduction in severe material deprivation in the last ten years” in almost all groups.
• Disability discrimination claims at employment tribunals being one of the most common forms of tribunal discrimination claim. However, disability discrimination claims are more commonly withdrawn or settled through the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service.

Legal impact Development of judicial precedents

Legal challenges based on the provisions of the EA 2010 have led to the development of judicial precedents. These include:

• Jessemey v Rowstock Ltd & Anor: The Court of Appeal held that the EA 2010 protects individuals against victimisation after their employment has ended.
• Hainsworth v Ministry of Defence: The Court of Appeal held that, while the duty on employers to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees and job applicants is wide, it does not extend to non-disabled staff and potential recruits.
• Asda Stores Ltd v Brierley and others: The Supreme Court held that predominantly female retail workers at Asda could bring equal pay claims against the retailer by using the conditions of employment enjoyed by predominantly male distribution employees as a valid comparison.
• For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers: The Supreme Court held that references in the EA 2010 to “man”, “woman” and “sex” were references to biological sex (meaning “the sex of a person at birth”).

Further resources Parliamentary questions

• Employment: Disability, 19 June 2025 | UIN 61424
• Employment: Disability, 3 June 2025 | UIN 56985
• Administration of Justice, 11 March 2024 | UIN 17822
• Broadcasting: Infrastructure, 12 May 2025 | UIN 51361

Library publications

• Supreme Court judgment on the meaning of “sex” in the Equality Act 2010: For Women Scotland, July 2025
• A short introduction to equality law and policy, December 2024
• Gender recognition and the Equality Act 2010, November 2024
• Disability discrimination, January 2023
• Employment Tribunal rulings on gender-critical beliefs in the workplace, December 2022
• The Equality Act 2010: Impact on disabled people, June 2022