Badenoch vows to scrap equality duty, calls it a legal minefield

Kemi Badenoch was expected to use a major speech on Tuesday to target the Public Sector Equality Duty, a legal requirement that reaches councils, schools, hospitals, police and transport bodies across Great Britain. The Conservative leader plans to argue that the rule has turned routine public decisions into a “minefield” and left officials exposed to challenge.

The duty sits in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 and requires public authorities to have due regard to eliminating discrimination, advancing equality of opportunity and fostering good relations. Specific duties that came into force on 10 September 2011 also require many public bodies to publish equality information every year and equality objectives at least every four years, a regime that has long shaped how councils, NHS bodies and schools document decisions.

Badenoch is expected to call for the duty to be repealed in its entirety, while saying she would keep the wider discrimination protections in the Equality Act. Her case is that police forces, the NHS and other public services have been pulled into contested arguments about race, sex and gender instead of focusing on delivery, and that equality law has become a legal obstacle rather than a management tool. She has already signalled a broader Conservative attempt to redraw the line between equality law and identity politics, including her March 2026 pledge to ban public bodies from using diversity quotas when hiring.

The plan came against a sharp political backdrop after a row last week over whether the police response to the murder of Henry Nowak was influenced by equality law. The Trades Union Congress accused the Conservatives of wanting to “legalise discrimination”, while the Equality and Human Rights Commission continues to describe the Public Sector Equality Duty as a legal requirement for public authorities and organisations carrying out public functions.

Government guidance says the duty is meant to improve decision-making by helping officials understand how policies and services affect people with different protected characteristics, while warning against an overly bureaucratic or gold-plated approach. Ministers also kept equality law in motion on 21 May 2026, when they laid an updated draft Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations in Parliament, underscoring that the rules Badenoch wants to scrap remain embedded in the daily workings of schools, hospitals, councils and policing.