774.This Schedule provides that an office or post is not treated as a personal or public office in the Act in circumstances where the office-holder is protected by one of the other forms of protection given in Part 5 of the Act – employment, contract work, employment services (as they relate to work experience), partnerships, limited liability partnerships, barristers and advocates. It also provides that political offices, life peerages, and any other dignity or honour conferred by the Crown are not personal or public offices for the purposes of the Act.
775.The Schedule replaces similar provisions in previous legislation. The conferral of honours and dignities is treated as a public function for the purposes of the Act, and the specific provisions formerly found in the Race Relations Act 1976 alone are not replicated. Public bodies’ activities in relation to honours and dignities will also be subject to the public sector equality duty.
A person appointed as a commissioner of a public body may be both an employee and an office-holder. Such a person will be protected under the employment provisions in section 39 as against his employer, and under the office-holder provisions in sections 49 or 50 and 51 as against the person who appointed him and/or any relevant person.