Business plan 2026 to 2027

Published: 18 May 2026

Last updated: 18 May 2026

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What countries does this apply to?

  • England
  • Scotland
  • Wales

Introduction

Equality and human rights protect and shape people’s daily lives. They are the foundation of a fair and inclusive society for all. We all rely on them to ensure dignity, fairness and better outcomes for individuals and society as a whole and as a framework to help us live well together.

Our vision is a society built on equality and human rights, where everyone in Britain has the chance to thrive and live well alongside others. Our purpose is to protect and promote these rights so that every person can enjoy fair opportunities in life. 

We continue to focus our work in areas where:

  • there is strong evidence of need
  • we can make a unique contribution
  • positive change is achievable 

To do this, we strive to work in ways that are agile, responsive and efficient. This allows us to respond to current and developing issues proactively, however contentious or controversial, and prioritise our limited resource. This means we can focus on areas that are likely to have the biggest impact.

In 2026 and 2027, we will continue to act as a robust and effective regulator, national equality body and National Human Rights Institution (NHRI).

We will:

  • be an evidence-based, authoritative and independent voice in our mission to protect and promote human rights
  • provide clear rules, standards and guidance to help people know their rights and employers understand their obligations
  • secure agreements with organisations to help them eliminate discrimination and harassment, and take action where this does not happen
  • name organisations who fail to report their gender pay gaps
  • hold governments to account on their international treaty commitments and publish our assessments of their progress
  • continue to make the case for equalities and human rights to the wider public in a way that connects with people’s real lives
  • work with the Scottish and Welsh governments and Parliaments on equality issues following the May 2026 elections
  • build strong, influential relationships with the UK government and advise Parliament on the human rights implications of proposed legislation
  • help people navigate competing rights including the balance between freedom of expression and freedom from harassment
  • continue to work with our uniformed services to tackle harassment, discrimination and victimisation
  • help the transport sector to improve access to transport so everybody can enjoy these services on an equal basis

We will enforce the law, uphold and protect all people’s rights and create fairness and opportunity. We will make a positive, lasting difference to the lives of people across Britain. 

How we will prioritise and deliver our work

Our business plan for 2026 to 2027 covers the second year of delivery against our 2025 to 2028 strategic plan. Our strategic plan organises our work under three pillars and we will continue this approach. This structure enables us to deliver our core responsibilities while also progressing longer-term, co-ordinated programmes of action. This is supported by an agile approach, which allows us to respond quickly to emerging issues and threats to equality and human rights.

We take a unified approach to delivery, using expertise and insight from the whole organisation across geographical boundaries. We recognise the different challenges and opportunities in England, Scotland and Wales and adapt the way we deliver our work accordingly.

Our three-pillar approach to our work for 2026 to 2027

Pillar One: We will continue to deliver a programme of regulation to support compliance with equality and human rights law. This work fulfils our statutory and core remit as detailed in the Equality Acts of 2006 and 2010.

Pillar Two: We will prioritise our limited resource to address the most significant risks and opportunities in the most effective way. This work is reactive and responsive and addresses the emerging and existing issues that impact equality and human rights.

Pillar Three: We will undertake longer-term, co-ordinated programmes using a range of our powers to focus on long-established equality and human rights challenges. 

Our internal corporate programme, ‘Strengthening our organisation’, enables us to achieve our strategic plan. Under the programme, we aim to:

  • develop our infrastructure to improve how we undertake data analysis
  • improve intelligence-led insights
  • make the best use of technology where it is responsible to do so

We will align our internal corporate programme with our change programme. The change programme will help us deliver our plan efficiently. It will consider our people, processes and approaches, the structure and culture we need to support them and opportunities through technology and artificial intelligence (AI).

Our planned activity

Pillar One: Regulating equality and human rights

In 2026 to 2027, our work under this pillar will deliver a comprehensive programme of regulation to support compliance with equality and human rights law. It will be driven by our statutory purpose and ensure we fulfil our role as a regulator, a national equality body, a National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) and that we remain compliant with our Paris Principles.

The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) requires public bodies and organisations carrying out public functions to promote equality and contribute to a fairer society in all aspects of their work. We will continue to monitor compliance with this duty, ensuring that organisations work to eliminate unlawful behaviour and that everyone in Britain can benefit from equality of opportunity and good relations between different groups.

We will continue to contribute to international human rights reviews and promote human rights responsibilities and opportunities among civil society stakeholders. We will aim to help shape emerging global human rights standards and continue holding Welsh and UK governments to account for their international treaty commitments. We will also further develop our Human Rights Tracker, assessing UK and Welsh government action against United Nations (UN) recommendations.

We will develop our statutory reporting function as we work towards publishing an Equality and Human Rights Monitor in 2028 and equivalent reports for the nations: ‘Is Wales Fairer’ and ‘Is Scotland Fairer’.

We will continue to enforce gender pay gap reporting and website accessibility. This will involve monitoring compliance, reporting on issues and supporting strategic legal cases to protect against any reduction in equality and human rights protections.

We will continue to prioritise reviewing and updating our advice and guidance. This is a core element of our support to both public and private sectors to ensure adherence to the Equality Act 2010 and human rights obligations. As an independent expert on equality and human rights in an evolving environment, it is essential that this information remains accurate, relevant and effective.

We will increase our capability and capacity for collaborative stakeholder engagement. This is increasingly important for improving support for equality and human rights. We will be strategic in how we engage with others, looking for opportunities to demonstrate why our work matters and how it adds value. To support this, we will run a series of stakeholder events across Scotland, England and Wales, with Parliamentarians and Civil Society Organisations.

We will undertake a programme of work to strengthen our corporate image and improve public understanding of who we are and what we do. We will develop and implement a refreshed corporate narrative, ensuring our tone of voice and messages consistently present the EHRC as an authoritative, clear and independent voice for equality and human rights. We will also develop and deliver targeted campaigns to improve public understanding of our role and the protections we uphold.  

We will promote human rights and explore how we can use our unique statutory role to build public understanding and support. This will include activities that develop and promote our existing assets such as the Human Rights Tracker and our public facing information. We will work collaboratively with civil society to help people better understand the relevance and importance of human rights in their everyday lives, as well as our role in protecting them. 

Pillar Two: Agile response to equality and human rights risks and opportunities

Having moved to a more agile and responsive way of working, our new approach concentrates on the most significant and urgent priorities. Pillar Two, which is our agile pillar, has been designed to help us achieve this. It allows us to:

  • respond effectively to emerging issues
  • prioritise our work
  • make evidence-led decisions
  • ensure we use the right tools and resources to deliver the greatest impact

An important part of this process improvement has been the successful development and launch of our new Pillar Two triage and assessment system. The system builds on the existing structure of our regulatory hub. It enables more effective intelligence gathering and use, supports our aim of being evidence‑led and provides a clear framework for prioritisation.

To enable this new structure to work, we must allow for capacity for reactive prioritisation. However, there are existing and likely commitments we expect to respond to throughout the year.

Our existing commitments include:

Our likely commitments include:

  • advising and influencing in England, Scotland and Wales, which may include areas such as the socioeconomic duty in England, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, conversion practices and facial recognition technology
  • preparing for new statutory requirements, powers and duties, which may include guidance on sexual harassment, employment law reform and new Scottish specific duties
  • engaging with the Scottish and Welsh governments and Parliaments, and analysing their respective priorities following elections in May 2026
  • identifying opportunities to deploy our enforcement and compliance tools strategically

Pillar Three: Co-ordinated programmes of action focused on entrenched equality and human rights challenges

Under the business plan for 2026 to 2027, we will continue to deliver our longer-term coordinated programmes of work. These programmes address established equality and human rights challenges. They are set out in our strategic plan for 2025 to 2028, under Pillar Three. The programmes support our objective of achieving clear, measurable improvements in people’s experiences of equality and human rights.

Programme 1: Tackling harassment, discrimination and victimisation in the uniformed services  

The uniformed services sector is high‑risk and demanding, with those who serve working tirelessly to protect the public, often at personal risk. Yet some people within the fire and police services and the armed forces continue to experience racial and sexual harassment, discrimination and victimisation. These issues remain embedded despite previous critical reports.

This programme, launched in 2024, will continue to take a coordinated approach to advancing equality, improving regulatory collaboration and supporting these services to meet their equality duties. It will focus on improving workplace environments and fostering cultures that are inclusive and free from discrimination and harassment. This is essential to ensure that those who work in the uniformed services sector are treated with the fairness and respect they deserve.

This work involves:

  • building partnerships with other regulators, inspectorates, ombudsmen and professional associations, allowing us to share intelligence and create consistent, collaborative approaches to embedding equality and human rights standards
  • maintaining the Equality Exchange Network, which is a forum for joint learning, with planned meetings that support shared understanding and the exchange of best practice
  • continuing support for Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority to improve their PSED implementation
  • working to embed the sexual harassment preventative duty, which includes hosting webinars, peer discussions and sector-wide roundtables
  • taking enforcement action such as Section 23 agreements, which are formal undertakings in which an organisation commits to addressing suspected unlawful conduct and takes steps to improve behaviour and culture

Programme 2: Clarifying the law and supporting effective responses to balance of rights, including freedom of expression 

Our role includes clarifying the law and advising on how it can be shaped in a way that respects everyone’s rights. There may also be times when different rights or the rights of different people need to be balanced. Our objective is to support informed, responsible engagement around the balance of rights, and to promote effective policy and legislation that enhances respect for, and enjoyment of, human rights.

One particular area of work in this programme is freedom of expression, and how this interacts with the expression of protected beliefs and unlawful harassment in the workplace. This will maintain our focus on areas where contention persists. During 2026 to 2027, we will assess the scale of this issue and develop proposals while also promoting the benefits of Human Rights and the protections in the Equality Act 2010.

Programme 3: Strengthening active participation in society by addressing barriers to public services  

Services such as public transport enable people to participate actively in society. However, for many older and disabled people, there are significant barriers to accessing these services. Environments around trains, buses, stations and transport hubs can cause physical issues. Accessing information, using booking systems and finding assistance is also challenging for people. People also experience negative attitudes from staff or other passengers.

Our work on access to transport for older and disabled people focuses on these issues. This work will help to reduce barriers and improve access to transport for these people so they can enjoy services on an equal basis to everybody else.

Our activities and deliverables will be organised around three defined themes with a focus on buses, trains and related infrastructure. These themes follow significant scoping activity in the first year of our 2025 to 2028 strategic plan and are based on challenges we have identified, our contribution to addressing them and the impact we are working towards. 

Theme one

Theme one involves influencing the evolving legislative and policy landscape to bring greater coherence to accessibility requirements. For example, continuing our engagement with the Railways Bill, Travel for All (Wales) and follow-up to the Accessible Travel Framework (Scotland). We will also engage with new opportunities such as the Law Commission’s review of the laws governing transport accessibility for disabled people.

Theme two

Under theme two, we will use our strategic convening role to increase joined-up working. For example, we are exploring how we can bring organisations together to embed equality in bus franchising across the three nations, as well as how we can support regulators to further embed equality in their oversight of the transport sector.

Theme three

Theme three focuses on improving compliance and accountability and ensuring more effective regulation of the transport sector. This includes continuing our PSED monitoring of the Department for Transport (GB) as part of our broader oversight of UK government departments under our overarching PSED programme. We will also review relevant stakeholders’ compliance with the specific duties in Scotland. 

Organisational Improvement Programmes

At the launch of our 2025 to 2028 strategic plan, we committed to reviewing our tools and systems, investing in technological improvements and making the best use of our office spaces. This is alongside our organisation-wide change programme which will equip us to deliver our strategic plan. 

In 2026 to 2027, our corporate improvement programme will align with our change programme. The focus this year will be to introduce a new operating model with new structures, processes and ways of working across our organisation.

We will strengthen our data infrastructure, which will enable use of more advanced data solutions such as automation and data science to enhance our technical capability, and streamline processes with the ambition to improve the Equality and Human Rights Monitor. This will support our ambition to become a more evidence‑led organisation. Over the next three to five years, we will define a clear vision and roadmap that brings together our data, digital and technology workstreams into a single, cohesive and integrated plan.

Footnotes

    Page updates

    Published:

    18 May 2026

    Last updated:

    18 May 2026