The Equality Act is here, but we’d have liked more notice, says Ian Smith
It used to be fairly standard for governments to tell us when laws were going to come into force (along, often with important subsidiary rules) all of a couple of days before the commencement date.
We might have hoped that this now belonged to the BAD OLD DAYS (definition of which, please, on a postcard to the editor) but they seem to have indulged in an element of backsliding on the major commencement order for the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010), which finally made its appearance two thirds of the way through September, for a commencement date of 1 October. We do now have it (No 4 Order SI 2010/2317) and it is of some complexity where certain transitional provisions are concerned (some of the most complex of which, bizarrely, concern hovercraft, which are obviously a hotbed of illegal discrimination).
Of greater interest politically are the provisions of the Act which are not brought into effect.
The old public sector equality duties remain in force (in spite of the
