Race
- Overview
- Race Equality Policy and Action Plan
- Racial Diversity Advisory Group
- Checklist for Heads of Department
- Placements and Race Relations
- Useful links
Overview
The Race Relations Act 1976 makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person, directly or indirectly on racial grounds in: employment; education; housing; and in the provision of goods, facilities and services. These cover the grounds of race, colour, nationality (including citizenship) and national or ethnic origin.
The duty to promote race equality
The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 requires educational institutions to meet the following general duty:
- To eliminate unlawful discrimination
- To promote equal opportunities
- To promote good relations between people from different racial groups
This duty is known as a positive duty. It requires institutions to pre-empt unlawful discrimination before it occurs. This means not simply to avoid doing something, (for example, not being racist) but to be proactive in promoting race equality (for example, to take steps to ensure no one will be racist).
Further, specific duties have been introduced to help institutions meet the general duty:
- To prepare and maintain a Race Equality Policy
- To assess the impact of all policies on staff and students of different racial groups
- To monitor, by reference to those racial groups, the admission and progress of students and the recruitment and career progress of staff
- To publish the results of monitoring undertaken
The Commission for Racial Equality have produced a statutory Code of Practice and various guidelines to support this Act.
If institutions fail to meet these duties, the Commission for Equality and Human Rights can issue a compliance order and legally force them to deliver on these issues.