CONSERVATIVE leader Kemi Badenoch will say on Tuesday that a future Conservative government would scrap the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), arguing that it has been used to promote "dangerous and divisive agendas" and has made public decision-making vulnerable to legal challenges.
The duty, introduced in 2010 as part of the Equality Act, requires public bodies in England, Scotland and Wales to eliminate unlawful discrimination and consider equality of opportunity when carrying out their functions.
Badenoch told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We want to bring back trust in our institutions and the Public Sector Equality Duty is stopping people from applying common sense."
She said the Equality Act is "important" and should be a "shield to protect you from discrimination, not a sword for social engineering or to be used to attack other people".
Ahead of her speech, the Conservatives said the duty had become the "legal foundation that has allowed identity politics, DEI [Diversity, Equality and Inclusion] bureaucracy and ideological box-ticking to spread across public services". Badenoch is expected to say: "We are going to scrap this duty altogether. We do not need to replace it. We need to explain to people that they should do their jobs."
The Equality and Human Rights Commission defended the policy, saying the PSED helps public authorities make decisions based on an understanding of the impact on those affected.
Reform UK said the proposal was "classic Conservative politics: too little, too late, and nowhere near enough". Liberal Democrat MP Marie Goldman called it "a desperate attempt to fan the flames of culture war politics".
Meanwhile, Labour is preparing a new equality and diversity strategy focused on socio-economic background, with measures aimed at increasing opportunities for people from working-class and regional backgrounds in the civil service.
