Home Secretary and Equalities Minister Theresa May has confirmed that the Government is to go ahead with the implementation of the Equality Act in October 2010 as planned by the previous administration.  

Doubts arose when the Government Equalities Office (GEO) removed from its website the October 2010 date for the Act’s implementation and a GEO spokesperson said she could not rule out a delay in the implementation of the majority of the Act.

The GEO website now states:

“The provisions in the Equality Act will come into force at different times to allow time for the people and organisations affected by the new laws to prepare for them. The Government is currently considering how the different provisions will be commenced so that the Act is implemented in an effective and proportionate way. In the meantime, the Government Equalities Office continues to work on the basis of the previously announced timetable, which envisaged commencement of the Act’s core provisions in October 2010.

“We will provide further information about implementation plans as it becomes available.”