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Disability discrimination

A general guide on how you are protected from discrimination under the Equality Act and what your rights are.

  • This information applies to England and Wales.
  • This information applies to adults. It doesn't apply to children unless specifically stated.

What is the public sector equality duty?

The public sector equality duty is a special duty that means most public authorities (like government departments, local authorities, police forces and NHS hospitals) have to:

  • eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation
  • make sure people with a protected characteristic have the same opportunities as other people

This means that public authorities should:

  • remove or minimise any disadvantages you might have because of your mental health problem
  • take steps to meet the needs of people with mental health problems that are different from the needs of people who don't
  • take steps to encourage people with mental health problems to get involved in public life or any activity in which their participation is disproportionately low.

The public sector equality duty applies in addition to their duty not to discriminate against you.

Example of how the public sector equality duty could apply

A local authority plans to cut its mental health care support services. This decision has to comply with the public sector duty. This means that the authority should:

  • consult the people who use the service and their families
  • consider the impact this decision will have on the service users and their families

If it fails to do this then it may not have followed its public sector equality duty and people may make complaints, or take them to court.

If you think an organisation is not following its public sector equality duty then you should get legal advice as soon as possible.

You can make a complaint using the complaints procedure of that organisation and you may also be able to challenge the decision or act of the organisation by taking a judicial review challenge.

What is a judicial review?

A judicial review is a legal challenge to the way a public authority has made a decision or has done or not done something lawfully.

  • The judge will look at whether the public authority has followed its public sector equality duty and its human rights duties.
  • If the judge decides that the public authority has not acted lawfully, it can cancel the public authority's decision, order it to do something, or order it to not do something.
  • You have to get permission from the High Court before bringing a claim for judicial review.
  • There are strict time limits: you have to do this as soon as possible and at the very latest within 3 months less 1 day of when the public authority made the decision you want to challenge.
  • You need to get advice from a legal adviser who specialises in public law and human rights before asking for a judicial review.
< Types of discrimination Human rights >

This information was published in August 2019. We will revise it in 2021.

References are available on request. If you would like to reproduce any of this information, see our page on permissions and licensing.

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