The socio-economic duty
Just Fair co-leads the 1ForEquality Campaign – which seeks the effective enactment, implementation and enforcement of Section 1 the Equality Act – the socio-economic duty in order to improve the fulfilment and protection of everyday rights, and reduce inequality.
What is the socio-economic duty?
Section 1 of the Equality Act 2010, the socio-economic duty (‘the duty’), is intended to reduce socio-economic disadvantage.
If enacted, it requires local and public authorities to consider the ways in which their decisions increase or decrease inequalities that result from socio-economic disadvantage, in much the same way as they are required to consider inequalities resulting from ‘protected characteristics’ such as gender or disability.
The duty is not yet commenced in England, however this is set to change as Labour committed to, “enact the socio-economic duty in the Equality Act 2010” in their 2024 Manifesto and work is underway in the Office for Equality and Opportunity to prepare for commencement of the duty.
Equality Act 2010, Section 1(1) 'the duty'
An authority to which this section applies must, when making decisions of a strategic nature about how to exercise its functions, have due regard to the desirability of exercising them in a way that is designed to reduce the inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage.
Latest updates
New research from Resolve Poverty on extent of local voluntary adoption
New research from Resolve Poverty reveals that across England 10% of councils have formally adopted the socio-economic duty, with a further 51% indicating they are “working in the spirit of the duty”, usually by incorporating socio-economic disadvantage into equality impact assessments.
The full research report ‘Mapping strategic local activity to tackle poverty’ and interactive maps can be accessed on Resolve Poverty’s website here.
UK Covid-19 Inquiry
On 20 November 2025, a report by The Rt Hon the Baroness Hallett DBE, Chair of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on core decision-making and political governance, was published.
The report notes that,
“the increased risk of harm was strongly influenced by socio-economic factors – namely, the “conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age”. The pre-existing links between socio-economic disadvantage and ill-health were reinforced during the pandemic, with people in low-paid or insecure employment often unable to work from home and unable to afford to miss work due to self-isolating. It was therefore the poorest in society who were most exposed to the risk of becoming infected by Covid-19.”
The report therefore recommended,
“The UK government should bring into force in England section 1 of the Equality Act 2010, implementing the socio-economic duty.”
And,
“The Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive should consider an equivalent provision within section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.”
This recommendation accords with the findings of our joint research with Resolve Poverty (The socio-economic duty in action: Case studies from England and Wales) where we found that the use of the duty in both Hackney and Wales made a difference in their responses to the pandemic.
On 25 March 2026 the UK Government published a response to the report. It noted that,
“The government therefore agrees with the Inquiry’s recommendation, that commencement of the socio-economic duty could drive the routine consideration of the impact decisions might have on those most at risk in an emergency.”
Getting ready for the duty
On 9 October 2025 the 1ForEquality group and the Local Government Association co-hosted an event called, ‘Getting ready for the Socio-Economic Duty’. Just Fair chaired this event, which was packed with excellent speakers providing key learning on effectively preparing for the duty including: Vanessa Boon (Equality Trust), Laura Burgess (Resolve Poverty) Tracey Herrington (Thrive Teesside) and Ali Harris (Equally Ours). We also had two speakers who shared their experiences of putting the duty to work – Carol Botten (Gateshead Council) and Councillor Laura Murtagh (Falkirk Council). The event was aimed primarily at those who will be implementing the duty once it is commenced.
You can watch a recording of the event below.
Expert Advisory Group
Since March 2025 we have been meeting with the Office for Equality and Opportunity as a members of the Expert Advisory Group – which they convene.
The purpose of the group is to work alongside UK Government officials and other stakeholders in order to support and advise on the development and publication of statutory guidance and support materials in relation to the socio-economic duty.
Government call for evidence
The UK Government ran a call for evidence from April-June 2025 in advance of fulfilling their manifesto commitment to enact Section 1 of the Equality Act 2010. You can read our submission here.
In addition, we co-wrote the 1ForEquality Campaign submission, which you can read here.
The duty in Scotland
The socio-economic duty was brought into Scots law in April 2018 through the Fairer Scotland Duty. This duty requires local authorities to actively consider how they could reduce inequalities of outcome in any major strategic decision they make; and to publish a written assessment, showing how they have done this.
The duty in Wales
After extensive consultations, the Welsh Government enacted the duty as part of its programme to help public bodies deliver A More Equal Wales. The socio-economic duty came into force in Wales on the 31 March 2021.
Find out more
Read this report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, ‘Evaluating the Socio-economic Duty in Scotland and Wales‘ (March 2021).
Voluntary adoption in England
At local level in England we have been working closely public authorities who are interested in voluntarily implementing the duty or acting in the spirit of the duty. With support from members of the 1ForEquality Campaign, across England 10% of councils have formally adopted the socio-economic duty, with a further 51% indicating they are “working in the spirit of the duty”,– check out this research from Resolve Poverty for more and see the ‘useful resources’ section below for more details.
We have also worked with members of the 1ForEquality campaign and public authorities to create a number of practical resources to capture best practice and learning on the effective commencement of the duty including:
1ForEquality Campaign
About the campaign
In 2017 we launched the 1ForEquality campaign with our partner The Equality Trust. The campaign seeks the effective enactment, implementation and enforcement of Section 1 the Equality Act – the socio-economic duty – across Great Britain in order to improve the fulfilment and protection of everyday rights, and reduce inequality.
Membership includes:
- Amnesty International UK
- Children’s Rights Alliance for England
- Compassion in Politics
- Disability Rights UK
- Equally Ours
- Fair By Design
- Friends, Families and Travellers
- Human Rights Watch
- Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN)
- MLegal
- Resolve Poverty
- Royal College of Physicians
- Runnymede Trust
- Shelter
- Thrive Teesside
- Turn2us
Campaign timeline
In 2017 we launched the 1forEquality campaign with our partner The Equality Trust.
In 2018 the campaign published a report ‘Tackling socio-economic inequalities locally’ which examined good practices in local authority implementation of the duty.
An Early Day Motion on the commencement and enforcement of the duty received support from 83 cross-party MPs in the 2017-2019 UK Parliament.
In 2019 we presented a motion to local authorities in the North East of England asking them to support social rights activities in their areas. The motion passed in North Tyneside Council, Newcastle City Council, South Tyneside Council, and Middlesbrough Council.
In 2020 the ‘Lawrence Review’ recommended that the UK Government enact the socio-economic duty in order to tackle structural racism.
The Inequalities in Health Alliance (IHA), urged the UK Government to use the duty to address health inequalities.
In 2021 the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) report ‘Evaluating the Socio-economic Duty in Scotland and Wales‘ cited our research. We also published ‘A Practical Guide for Local Authority Implementation of the Socio-economic Duty in England’.
Having received evidence from members of the 1ForEquality campaign group, the cross-party Women and Equalities Select Committee recommended that the UK Government commission a pilot to establish the costs and benefits of different approaches to voluntary adoption of the socio-economic duty in England.
The Green Paper on Employment Rights published by the Labour Party in 2021 contained a commitment to enact the socio-economic duty.
After years of campaigning, we welcomed commitments in the Labour Party’s policy handbook to ‘enact the socioeconomic duty under section 1 of the Equality Act’. The handbook was expected to form a blueprint for the party’s manifesto for the UK’s next general election.
Along with Resolve Poverty we published a new resource ‘The socio-economic duty in action: case studies from England and Wales’. Drawing on the experiences of public bodies across the UK, this report presents a range of case studies to illustrate how the duty can improve decision-making and assist local authorities and public bodies in tackling socio-economic inequality.
The lack of commencement of the duty was a key issue in our 2023 report to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Many members of the 1ForEquality campaign submitted evidence to inform this report.
The UK Labour Party committed to, “enact the socio-economic duty in the Equality Act 2010” in their 2024 Manifesto. The Labour Party has now formed a government and the 1ForEquality campaign group is working towards influencing the effective enactment of the duty.
On 7 April 2025 the Office for Equality and Opportunity opened a call for evidence on equality law – including four specific questions on the socio-economic duty.
Just Fair’s response to the call for evidence and the 1ForEquality campaign response were both submitted in June 2025.
In October 2025 we held a joint event with the Local Government Association aimed at equipping local authorities with the tools they need in order to prepare themselves for the implementation of the duty. Watch it back here.
Useful resources
Check out below some of the resources we’ve found particularly useful in our work on the 1ForEquality campaign.
You can also check out all Just Fair’s resources on the socio-economic duty in our resource library and read all of our blogs on the duty by clicking here.
- ‘Mapping strategic local activity to tackle poverty’ (Resolve Poverty 2026)
- Briefing on the socio-economic duty for UK parliamentarians (2026)
- Socio-economic duty adoption across England (Resolve Poverty 2024)
- The socio-economic duty in action: case studies from England and Wales (Just Fair and Resolve Poverty 2023)
- Briefing on the current scale of the socio-economic duty in England (Resolve Poverty, 2022) – Short briefing on the scale of voluntary socio-economic duty adoption as of 2021.
- Tackling inequality: the Socio-economic Duty (Just Fair, 2022) – Short briefing offering the social and legal case for implementing the socio-economic duty.
- Fairer Scotland Duty: guidance for public bodies (Scottish Government, 2022) – Guidance from the Scottish Government on the Fairer Scotland Duty. The resources section includes five additional case studies illustrating how the socio-economic duty can be used in practice.
- A More Equal Wales (Welsh Government, 2021) – Statutory Guidance from the Welsh Government on the socio-economic duty.
- Evaluating the socio-economic duty in Scotland and Wales (Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2021) – Research into how 24 public bodies in Scotland and Wales are implementing, or preparing to implement, the socio-economic duty.
- Maximising opportunities for health and wellbeing for people and communities experiencing socio-economic disadvantage (Public Health Wales, 2023) – Practical guide to using the socio-economic duty in policy and practice in Wales.
- A Practical Guide for Local Authority Implementation of the Socio-Economic Duty in England (Resolve Poverty and Just Fair, 2021) – Publication detailing key steps to ensure meaningful implementation of the socio-economic duty.
- Socioeconomic duty toolkit (Revolving Doors Agency and New Generation Policing, 2021) – A toolkit on how the socio-economic duty can be used to challenge poverty in policing.
- Tackling socio-economic inequalities locally (Just Fair, 2018) – Compilation of best practice guidance for implementing the socio-economic duty in England.
- A More Equal Wales – The Socio-economic Duty Equality Act 2010 (Welsh Government, 2020) – Examples of inequalities of outcome due to socio-economic disadvantage and COVID-19.
- SED Tool – School Meal Price Increase (Salford City Council, 2022) – Template for a socio-economic duty assessment created by Salford City Council.
Members of the 1ForEquality campaign have supported public authorities across England to voluntarily adopt the duty. Some examples of those who have taken this up include:
- In October 2025 we held a joint event with the Equality Trust aimed at equipping local authorities with the tools they need in order to be ready for the implementation of the socio-economic duty. Watch it here.
- In July 2023 we launched a new joint publication with Resolve Poverty ‘The socio-economic duty in action: case studies from England and Wales‘. Check out the launch event recording.
- In May 2023 we hosted an webinar for newly elected, and re-elected councillors and officers in England about the socio-economic duty. The event focused on how the duty can help local authorities target resources and interventions to begin to close the inequality gap. Watch the recording here.
Blogs on implementation of the duty
A small selection of our blogs which highlight key aspects of adoption and implementation of the duty are below.
You can also check out all Just Fair’s resources on the socio-economic duty in our resource library.
Derby City Council votes for equality
2 June 2022
Cambridgeshire County Council backs equality
25 March 2022
Newcastle City Council implements socio-economic duty
24 August 2021
Wales implement the socio-economic duty
11 March 2021
For more information about the socio-economic duty and our campaign please get in touch with: [email protected].