Equality related legislation
Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act provides legal protection for people from discrimination in the workplace and within society. Since the act passed through parliament, additional provisions have been made such as positive action for recruitment and promotion, Public Sector Equality Duty, enactment of the Socio-economic Duty and The Worker Protection Act (2024).
Public Sector Equality Duty
The Public Sector Equality Duty is a legal duty on public authorities and those who use public funds to consider how their work affects people who are protected under the Equality Act.
Those subject to the general equality duty must have due regard to the need to:
- Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation.
- Advance equality of opportunity between people who possess a protected characteristic and people who do not
- Foster good relations between people who possess a protected characteristic and people who do not.
For further information see Equality Act | Equality and Human Rights Commission
Socio-economic Duty
This duty was introduced by the Welsh Government on 31st March 2021. Its aim is to deliver better outcomes for those who experience socio-economic disadvantage. It further enhances current equality legislation and the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014.
The Worker Protection Act (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) 2023
The Act introduces a new legal duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their workers (the ‘preventative duty’). Previously there was no proactive legal obligation on employers to take steps to prevent sexual harassment at work.
EHRC publishes updated workplace sexual harassment guidance ahead of change to law | EHRC
Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015
The Well-being of Future Generations Act requires public bodies in Wales to think about the long-term impact of their decisions, to work better with people, communities and each other, and to prevent persistent problems such as poverty, health inequalities and climate change.
British Sign Language (Wales) Act 2026
On the evening of the 11th March 2026, the Senedd voted on the British Sign Language (Wales) Bill. The outcome of the vote was that the BSL Bill passed and will now become law.
BSL Act Duties
- place a duty on Welsh Ministers to promote and facilitate the use of British Sign Language (BSL) and prepare and publish a strategy which sets out how it will fulfil this duty and to report on its progress.
- place a duty on listed public bodies to prepare and publish a plan on how it intends to facilitate the use of BSL and report on its progress. Welsh Ministers must publish guidance which sets out how listed public bodies can promote and facilitate the use of BSL; Deaf and BSL users are involved in the development of strategy and plans from the start and throughout it’s development.
- act as a platform to ensure improved services and better outcomes for the Deaf community through greater access to public services such as health and education, improve BSL signers employment outcomes and enable them to live in a society where their language and culture are both recognised and promoted.
The legislation will also include the appointment of a Statutory BSL Advisor, supported by an assisting BSL panel.
Human Rights Act 1998
This sets out the universal standards to ensure that a person’s basic needs are recognised and met. Public Bodies has a mandated duty to ensure that they have arrangements in place to comply with the act.
It is unlawful for a health care organisation to act in any way that is incompatible with human rights. In practice, this means we must treat individuals with fairness, respect, equality, dignity and autonomy. These are known as the FREDA principles.
Armed Forces Act 2021
Most Armed Forces Veterans will have health and social needs in common with the general population. There are however, large numbers of Veterans who will have physical or mental health needs directly related to their service.
The UK government has launched the Armed Forces Covenant with the principle that the Armed Forces community as a whole, should not be disadvantaged because of their military experience.
Social Care (Quality and Engagement) (Wales) Act – Duty to Engage
The Health and Social Care Quality and Engagement (Wales) Act aims to improve the quality of health and social care services in Wales by enhancing public engagement and ensuring transparency.
Key aspects include:
- Duty of Quality: This duty is placed on NHS bodies and Welsh Ministers to ensure continuous quality improvement in health services
- Duty of Candour: This duty requires NHS service providers to be open and honest with patients and service users when things go wrong
- Public Engagement: The act replaces community health councils with Llais, a new citizen body to ensure that the voices of the public are heard in health and social care services
Engagement work can help inform decision making and help provide evidence within equality impact assessments.
Llais has been set up by the Welsh Government. The aim of Llais is to make sure people in Wales can have a say about their health services and social care services.
The Consultation Institute is an independent organisation that provide training and advice on best practice on consultation.
Further information: The Health and Social Care (Quality and Engagement) (Wales) Act: summary
Welsh Language
Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 brought about the introduction of The Welsh Language Standards and established the Welsh Language Commissioners office. The purpose of this legislation is to establish that Welsh has equal status with English here in Wales, and the standards are organised on the principle that Welsh should not be treated less favourably than English.
Welsh Language Standards
The purpose of Welsh language standards is to:
- Ensure clarity to people in Wales what they can expect from organisations in terms of the Welsh language
- Ensure clarity to organisations in relation to the Welsh language
- Ensure greater consistency in Welsh language services and improve quality to users
Over 120 public organisations apply the Welsh Language Standards to their work. Organisations can be asked to legally comply with specific standards relating to;
- Service delivery
- Policy making
- Formulating new policy
- Operational
- Promotion
- Record keeping
Your local Health Board will have their own compliance notice available.
Welsh Language Standards primary care
- The Welsh language standards apply to directly-controlled NHS primary care services including dentists.
- The standards do not apply to independent primary care providers. However, they must follow 6 Welsh language duties which came into force in May 2019 as detailed below.
Welsh Language Duties for Independent providers
For any services provided under the contract, providers must:
- Notify the local health board if they provide services through the medium of Welsh
- Provide Welsh language versions of all documents or forms provided to it by the local health board
- Ensure that any new sign or notice provided is bilingual. Contractors can use local health boards translation services for this purpose.
- Encourage staff to wear a badge or lanyard to show that they are able to speak or learning Welsh, if they provide services in Welsh
- Establish and record the language preference of a patient
- Encourage and assist staff to utilise information and/or attend training courses or events provided by the local health board
Welsh Language Commissioner’s office
“The Welsh Language Commissioner’s main statutory aim is to promote and facilitate the use of the Welsh language. The Commissioner’s vision is for a Wales where people can use Welsh in their everyday lives.”
The Welsh Language Commissioner’s office are there to ensure that standards are adhered to and do so by issuing compliance notices to the organisation and an imposition day.
More than Just Words framework
The More than Just Words framework is a 5-year plan from the Welsh government to ensure the Welsh Language is firmly established in Health and Social Care across Wales. The framework identifies seven key groups that have a clinical need for Welsh Language Services:
- children and young people
- older people
- people with learning disabilities
- mental health service users
- people living with dementia
- people accessing stroke services
- people accessing speech and language therapy services
“Our vision for More than just words is for Cymraeg to belong and be embedded in health and social care services across Wales so that individuals receive care that meet their language needs, leading to better outcomes, without having to ask for it.” – More than Just Words framework
The Active Offer
The Active Offer of Welsh simply means offering Welsh Language Services to someone without them having to ask for it. Welsh Language Services should be as available as English services to service users and should not be treated less favourably. The Active Offer can mean many things such as:
- Answering the phone with a greeting in Welsh
- Ensuring signage is bilingual
- Wearing a Iaith Gwaith / Working Welsh lanyard if you are a Welsh speaker.
All Wales Accessible Communication
The All Wales NHS Accessible Communication and Information Standards were launched in September 2025.
Further information: Accessible communication and information standards in healthcare | GOV.WALES