Publishing information

Although it is no longer necessary to publish an equality scheme, public bodies are required to report at least annually on their compliance with the general equality duty and progress towards equality objectives, setting out:

  • Data tables with commentary to aid interpretation of equality issues;
  • Details of equality analysis undertaken to discover evidence of inequality;
  • Details of engagement and consultation undertaken with people with protected characteristics;
  • Equality objectives and yardsticks by which to measure progress.

The annual publication must provide evidence that the institution has paid due regard to the general duty in all aspects of the exercise of its public functions, including as an employer, an education provider and a provider of services to students, staff, alumni and visitors. This requires an explicit statement of how it has considered the need to:

  • Eliminate discrimination;
  • Advance equality of opportunity; and
  • Foster good relations.

However, public bodies are not expected to publish everything they have collected, particularly where numbers are small and there is a risk of identifying individuals, or the data may be misleading due to low numbers: it is considered good practice not to publish information on groups of fewer than ten people. For example, smaller colleges may prefer to publish a brief narrative account with headline data only, demonstrating that they have gathered quantitative and qualitative information, engaged with people with protected characteristics, and reflected on the outcomes of this in accordance with the equality duty.

Data processing: transparency and anonymity

Published data are required to conform to the government’s public data publication transparency principles:

  • Timeliness
  • Fine granularity
  • Openness
  • Aggregated and anonymised data
  • Standardised formats
  • Publication under a standard open licence which allows free re-use (including commercial re-use) of the data for any lawful purpose without additional permission.

The information should be accessible to the public which in effect means published on a website. It should be easy to find and clearly identified. Institutions will have to publish updated information by 31 January each year.