Regulatory Guidance EHRC-EQUALITY-10STEP Authoritative Settled

How to Consider Equality in Policy Making: A 10-Step Guide for Public Bodies in England

Non-statutory guidance 2014 England
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Contains public-sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Commentary and analysis © 2026 SEE Change Happen Ltd.


What This Authority Covers

A practical 10-step guide for public bodies to integrate equality considerations into policy development and decision-making. Covers: defining the aims, gathering evidence, assessing impact, considering alternatives, consultation, decision-making, publishing results, monitoring, and review.

When Relevant

Structuring equality impact assessments (EqIAs) for policies that affect trans employees or service users. The toolkit's EqIA/DPIA wizard will reference this methodology.


Key Provisions

  • holding-1 Framework
    10 sequential steps for equality-informed policy making

    Sets out 10 sequential steps for equality-informed policy making, from initial scoping through evidence gathering, consultation, decision, implementation, and review.

  • holding-2 Framework
    Evidence gathering and impact assessment methodology

    Evidence gathering and impact assessment methodology: requires systematic collection of data on the likely impact of a policy on each protected characteristic.

  • holding-3 Framework
    Consultation requirements

    Consultation requirements: sets out who should be consulted, how, and at what stage in the policy-making process.


Current Status & Context

Practical step-by-step guide. The methodology remains valid — the substance of what each step should consider has been updated by the FWS judgment (particularly Steps 3–4 on gathering evidence and assessing impact).