Strategic Equality Plan and Annual Equality Report

The Equality Act 2010

The introduction of the Equality Act 2010 had two main purposes: to harmonise discrimination law and to strengthen the existing law to support progress on equality.

Public sector bodies in Wales have two core responsibilities under the Act. Firstly, in providing services to the public and/or in exercising public functions, we must not discriminate against, harass or victimise any individual with a "protected characteristic" whether this be direct or indirect. Secondly, the Act introduced a single general public sector equality duty to replace the race, disability and gender equality duties. This duty came into force in April 2011 and it aims to ensure consistency across all the equality strands. Public authorities are required to have due regard when carrying out their functions in order to:

• eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation;
• advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not; and
• foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and people who do not.

Strategic Equality Plan 2024 - 2028

In Wales it is specifically required that an authority develops a Strategic Equality Plan (SEP) every 4 years. The SEP is intended to be a central vehicle to carry the various things that the Welsh Assembly Regulations require so that there is a single point of access to the public. The Welsh Government requires that the SEP must contain a statement setting out a description of the authority, the authority’s equality objectives, details of the steps the authority has taken or intends to take in order to fulfil its objectives, how long it will take in order to fulfil its objectives, and details of arrangements it has made or intends to make to comply with the Regulations.

Torfaen Council’s statement and equality objectives can be found in the Strategic Equality Plan.

This Strategic Equality Plan has been updated to demonstrate the Council’s commitment to meeting the Equality Act 2010 (Statutory Duties) (Wales) Regulations 2011, which came into force in 2011. It also demonstrates links to other legislation and regulations covering Welsh Language and Human Rights issues, and also supports 3 of the 7 aims under the Welsh Government’s Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.

Annual Equality Report 2022 - 2023

The Public Sector Equality Duty requires that all public authorities covered under the specific duties in Wales should produce an Annual Equality Report. The Councils’ progress on its Strategic Equality Plan, in relation to its statutory responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 is both compliant and satisfactory. In relation to the equality objectives that were set in the Strategic Equality Plan 2020 - 2024, there has been significant progress in a number of key areas. These can be viewed in the Annual Equality Report 2022 – 2023.