The Disability Equality Duty was introduced in the Disability Discrimination Act 2005. It is a statutory duty to promote the interests of disabled people in employment, service delivery and public life. Public bodies must take a more proactive approach to addressing disability and preventing discrimination. This includes promoting equality of opportunity and taking steps to take account of people’s disabilities in cultural and sports provision.

The Race Equality Duty was introduced in the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000. It places a statutory duty on public bodies to eliminate unlawful racial discrimination, promote equality of opportunity and promote good relations between people of different racial groups.

The Education and Inspections Act 2006 introduced a duty on all maintained schools to promote community cohesion. The duty came into effect on 1 September 2007. Guidance on the new duty recognises the opportunities offered by sport, drama, music, festivals and volunteering activities for young people from different backgrounds to meet, interact and learn from each other. The Act also introduced a duty on Ofsted  to report on the contributions made by schools to promoting community cohesion. The duty on Ofsted comes into effect in September 2008.

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