The Race Relations Act 1976 was established by the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

to prevent

discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...

on the grounds of race. The scope of the legislation included discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, nationality, ethnic and national origin in the fields of

employment Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

, the provision of goods and services, education and public functions. In the field of employment, section 7 of the Act extended protection to "contract workers", that is, someone who works (or is prevented from working) for a person but is employed not by that person ("the principal") but by another person, who supplies the worker under a contract between the principal and the worker's employer. Typically this clause protects the rights of agency workers to be protected from racial discrimination. This provision was reviewed in a 2010 legal case, Leeds City Council v Woodhouse and Another,Leeds City Council v Woodhouse & Anor 010EWCA Civ 410 in which the courts opted for "a broad reading" of section 7 and the type of employment relationship involved, "so as not to restrict the protection for contract workers".Andrews, S.
Protection for contract workers
''Local Government Lawyer'', published 8 June 2010, accessed 23 September 2020 In this particular case it was confirmed that employees of an arms length housing management organisation were protected as contract workers even though the principal had no management control over how their employer dealt with its staff. The Act also established the

Commission for Racial Equality The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom which aimed to address racial discrimination and promote racial equality. The commission was established in 1976, and disbanded in 2007 when its ...

with a view to review the legislation, which was put in place to make sure the Act rules were followed. The Act incorporated the earlier

Race Relations Act 1965 The Race Relations Act 1965 was the first legislation in the United Kingdom to address racial discrimination. The Act outlawed discrimination on the "grounds of colour, race, or ethnic or national origins" in public places in Great Britain. It ...

and

Race Relations Act 1968 The Race Relations Act 1968 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom making it illegal to refuse housing, employment, or public services to a person on the grounds of colour, race, ethnic or national origins in Great Britain (although n ...

and was later amended by the

Race Relations Amendment Act 2000 The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that modified the earlier Race Relations Act 1976. The legislation outlawed race discrimination in areas not covered by the 1976 legislation. This includ ...

, notably imposing a statutory duty on

public bodies A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, thus, they are statutes owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in so ...

to promote

racial equality Racial equality is a situation in which people of all races and ethnicities are treated in an egalitarian/equal manner. Racial equality occurs when institutions give individuals legal, moral, and political rights. In present-day Western society, ...

and to demonstrate that procedures to prevent race discrimination were effective. The Act was repealed by the

Equality Act 2010 The Equality Act 2010 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom passed during the Brown ministry with the primary purpose of consolidating, updating and supplementing the numerous prior Acts and Regulations, that formed the basis of anti-d ...

, which superseded and consolidated previous discrimination law in the UK.

References

External links

CRE page relating to race relations legislationBBC report on the introduction of the race relations Acts
* {{UK legislation Anti-racism in the United Kingdom United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1976 Anti-discrimination law in the United Kingdom Race relations in the United Kingdom

See also

References

External links