The socio-economic duty is contained within Section 1 of the Equality Act 2010 and was designed to ensure that strategic decisions and policies improve outcomes for those experiencing poverty. Specifically, its adoption requires that, “when making decisions of a strategic nature about how to exercise [their] functions”, public bodies seek to exercise them in such a way as “to reduce the inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage” (Equality Act 2010 c.1). Despite the Equality Act being passed into law in 2010, the duty was never enacted in England.

In response to rising poverty levels, and inaction at Westminster, the devolved nations pressed ahead with implementation: in Scotland, the Fairer Scotland Duty was enacted in 2018, and the socio-economic duty was enacted in Wales in 2021 as part of the “More Equal Wales” initiative. Councils in England are also increasingly recognising their responsibilities to consider how their decisions impact residents experiencing poverty and, along with other areas of the public sector, some councils have voluntarily adopted the duty.

In this report, we look at the prevalence of the socio-economic duty in councils across England. We analyse socio-economic duty adoption along dimensions of geography, political control and child poverty rates. We also consider the relationship between councils’ adoption of the socio-economic duty and anti-poverty strategies.