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NEWS


Equality Act comes into force

New legislation designed to strengthen and unify equalities law came into force this month in England, Scotland and Wales.

The Equality Act 2010 harmonises the complex patchwork of anti-discrimination legislation and introduces a number of important changes to equalities law.

Among these changes is a new Equality Duty, a key part of the Act, on public sector institutions, including schools and colleges, which will include a requirement to publish publicly available data on their performance on equality. This is likely to include information on the diversity of their workforce and the steps being taken to eliminate discrimination within the organisation.

This new Equality Duty, which comes into force in April 2011, will also extend existing requirements for public bodies to promote gender, race and disability equality to age, religion and belief, sexual orientation and gender reassignment.

The NASUWT has long-standing concerns that the existing public sector duties have not been effectively enforced but has serious reservations over the revised duty which removes the requirement to consult trade unions, train staff on equalities and involve staff and service users in implementing the duty. There is a risk, the Union believes, that much of the good practice presently operating in the public sector, much of it trade union-led, will be lost as a result.

The new law introduces new provisions outlawing the use of pre-appointment medicals or health questionnaires by employers seeking to weed out job applicants on health grounds. The changes are designed to prevent employers discriminating against applicants with disabilities or health problems. Employers are still allowed to seek medical information during the selection process, but only in limited circumstances.

Up to the point of offering of a job, an employer can only ask health-related questions to decide whether an applicant can carry out a function that is essential to the job or to be able to make reasonable adjustments.

Despite calls from the trade union movement, the Act fails to introduce any legal measures to tackle the persistent gender pay gap. Despite recent research suggesting it will take 57 years for women’s pay to equal that of their male colleagues, the Conservative Party declared before the General Election that, if elected, it would not bring into effect regulations proposed in the Act that would require large and medium-sized employers to publish information about gender pay levels by 2013.

For more information on the new law: www.equalityhumanrights.com/legal-and-policy/equality-act.

Go online: www.nasuwt.org.uk/EqualityAct.


Building on solid foundations

Funding levels must be sustained if the Foundation Phase is to deliver long-term benefits for pupils and teachers, the NASUWT has said.

Last month saw the final stage of the roll-out of the Welsh Assembly Government’s (WAG’s) flagship programme to all five and six year olds and the NASUWT used the moment to remind ministers why it has been welcomed by teachers, headteachers and parents.

The NASUWT believes that the Foundation Phase’s successful implementation is down to three key factors: adequate and sustained funding, the limit of 30 pupils per class and the establishment of fixed adult-to-pupil ratios.

This has meant both teachers and pupils have been able to receive the support and resources needed to make the transition to the new way of learning espoused by the Foundation Phase.

At a time of financial pressure and budget cuts, the NASUWT has urged the WAG to ensure that this level of support is maintained into the future so that the Foundation Phase is successfully integrated into the wider curriculum and achieves its aims.

The introduction of the Foundation Phase, with its focus on experiential and play-based learning, has heralded a major change in the way early years and Key Stage 1 education is taught, organised and developed. The NASUWT has been working throughout the roll-out process to seek to ensure that the reforms benefit, rather than disadvantage, members.

Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, said: “The NASUWT is in no doubt that the three key decisions on funding, class sizes and adult-to-pupil ratios have gone a long way to winning the hearts and minds of teachers, support staff, parents and pupils over the introduction of the Foundation Phase.

“The level of investment in the Foundation Phase must be maintained in the years ahead if the long-term benefits are to be realised.”

"The level of investment in the Foundation Phase must be maintained in the years ahead if the long-term benefits are to be realised."

For more information, go online: www.nasuwt.org.uk/funding.