ABSTRACT
The Hepple et al. (2000) report called for a review of all of the equality legislation and provides 53 detailed recommendations about how change could be achieved. The leading claim of Hepple et al. (2000: xiii) is that ‘the present framework places too much emphasis on state regulation and too little on the responsibility of organisations and individuals to generate change’. Their recommendations for change include the public sector taking a lead via the introduction of positive duties to promote equality and for a process of negotiated change within organisations ‘… to allow the employer time to absorb the costs of implementation…’ (ibid.: xv). Recommendation 24 calls for a single public sector equality duty to cover race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion and for persons with dependants.
