The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 came into force on the 1 October 2006. They ban unjustified direct and indirect age discrimination and all harassment and victimisation, of workers of any age, young or old, on the grounds of age. These regulations make it unlawful to discriminate in the areas of recruitment, promotion and training.
In addition to equalities legislation, public authorities need to be mindful of other national policy issues which impact on young people. The requirement and ethos of 'Every Child Matters', 'Youth Matters', the National Service Framework (NSF) for children and young people, 'Hear by Right', Aiming Higher for Young People, as well as specific legislative requirements including the Education and Inspection Act 2006 mean that the specific needs of young people should be responded to.
Wider duties relating to all citizens also apply to young people. Local authorities, as part of their community leadership role are required to undertake high quality engagement with all local communities. They have an obligation to understand and act on the needs of the communities they serve, to promote equality and tackle inequalities. The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 places a new duty on best value authorities to involve local people in decisions. The new assessment framework, CAA will look at the delivery of outcomes paying particular attention to how well people, whose circumstances make them vulnerable, are engaged with their local services. Public services therefore need to review their approach to young people to ensure they are helping to deliver improved outcomes for this group of people.
All public sector bodies such as fire and police authorities who may not provide direct services to young people still have a role to play in ensuring that service provision meets the needs of all sections of the community including young people.
What does the young people tool cover?
Young people can play an active and important part in the life of a community. Young people's experience, if positively channelled, can lead to improved life experiences for them. Transition from childhood to adulthood, whilst smooth for some young people, can be a time of turbulence and challenge for others. How public bodies are responding to these challenges and the needs and aspirations of young people affect the longer-term outcomes for young people.
The main aim of this tool is to assist public bodies in identifying areas of age discrimination and to address age inequalities particularly in relation to young people. The term young people refers to those who are in their teens (ie between the ages of 13 and 19) and early 20's.