Public sector equality duty (PSED)

The public sector equality duty (PSED), which came into force on 6 April 2011, places additional specific duties on public authorities including NHS trusts.

Two such duties are a requirement on public authorities to:

1. publish sufficient information to demonstrate compliance with the general equality duty by 31 January 2012 and thereafter annually
2. prepare and publish one or more equality objectives by 6 April 2012 and no more than four years thereafter

The published information is to include:

• information on the effect that policies and practices have had on employees, service users and others from the protected groups
• evidence of the analysis undertaken to establish whether their policies and practices will (or have) furthered the three equality aims in the general equality duty
• details of information used in that analysis
• details of engagement with people with an interest in the aims of the duty

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Page last reviewed: April 15, 2025
Next review due: April 15, 2026