By Laura Burgess, Head of Policy and Research at Resolve Poverty
Adoption of the socio-economic duty was included in the new Labour government’s manifesto. But what exactly is the socio-economic duty? And what does this mean for public bodies like local authorities and healthcare organisations?
The socio-economic duty is contained in Section 1 of the Equality Act 2010. The duty requires public authorities to actively consider the way in which their decisions increase or decrease the inequalities that result from socio-economic disadvantage.
Currently, it is not law to consider socio-economic disadvantage in decision-making, but many local and regional public bodies across England have voluntarily adopted the duty. Building on this, the new government has committed in their manifesto to enact the socio-economic duty.
Effective implementation of the duty by public bodies can secure internal support for anti-poverty initiatives and significantly improve outcomes for low-income residents and service users. This means that widespread adoption of the duty would be a powerful step towards addressing poverty and creating a fairer society.
With the government due to bring the duty into force in the near future, now is the time for public bodies to begin thinking about they can implement the duty in an effective way.
At Resolve Poverty, we have extensive experience supporting local authorities and other organisations to understand and adopt the duty. We are also leading advocates for effective implementation of the duty, gathering good practice case studies from a range of public bodies from across the country.
“Resolve Poverty has provided invaluable advice to Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) on poverty affecting our Greater Manchester communities. ​​In particular, their expertise on the socio-economic duty has equipped TfGM with the resources required to effectively adopt and implement it. This has led to a greater emphasis on reducing socio-economic disadvantage within our strategy and policy development.”
We can support you with the following:
- Training: to understand the duty and the practicalities of adopting it
- Implementation support: to develop your policies and procedures so that you can enact the duty in a way that works for your organisation and has the greatest impact possible.
If you’re interested in learning more about working with us, please email Tom Waring at thomas@resolvepoverty.org.uk or click here to book a free initial conversation.
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This article is featured in our 14 August newsletter.
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