Working in Partnership: Devolution and the Development of a Distinctive Equalities Agenda in Employment, in Wales

Since devolution in 1998, the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) has been proactive in exercising its responsibilities for equalities within its territories (Chaney, 2009; Davies, 2003). The Government of Wales Act 2006 moreover, placed a statutory duty on the Assembly to have due regard for equality of opportunity in everything it did. Although discrimination law in itself is not a function that is devolved to Wales, many of the levers for influencing implementation and policy lie with the WAG. For example, responsibility for equality policies was devolved to regional governments and the regional arms of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) under the provisions of the Equality Act (EqA) 2010, facilitating opportunities for local initiatives (Chaney, 2009; Squires 2008). This included the ability to enforce ‘specific’ Welsh Duties, in addition to the ‘general’ UK wide Public Sector Equality Duties (PSEDs). Viewed as significantly more prescriptive than the English regulations, these were implemented in 2011 and placed a responsibility on public authorities, in consultation with relevant groups, to publish agreed Strategic Equality Plans with clear time-frames for meeting objectives. Amongst other things, they also emphasised the use of Equality Impact assessments (EIAs) to provide an evidence base for advancing equalities, a tool used by the WAG, when it became the first UK administration to publish an EIA of its 2011/12 budget.