The Equality Act 2010 introduces a single equality duty on public bodies which will be extended to include all protected strands – race, disability, sex, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment. This combined equality duty will come into effect in April 2011 and will have three main elements .
In carrying out their functions, public bodies will be required to have due regard to the need to:
1) Eliminate conduct that is prohibited by the Act, that is discrimination, harassment and victimisation
2)Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it,
3)Foster good relations across all characteristics – between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.