Page 11 - ALG Issue 2 2025

LEGAL
EQUALITY
LAW
In the last issue of the magazine, some
interesting points were raised regarding
how the law surrounding equality impacts
allotments and what might landowners
and allotment committees be expected to
do to meet these legislative requirements.
This article will hopefully clarify these
points, provide some examples of equality
on allotments in action, and suggest where
you can find some further information.
The Equality Act 2010
The primary legislation that covers equality
law in the UK is the Equality Act 2010. The
Act replaced older pieces of legislation such
as the Equal Pay Act 1970 and the Disability
Discrimination Act 1995 by consolidating
and updating all of the key concepts into
one act.
The Act sets out that there are nine
protected characteristics that a person can
have and how other people/organisations
should act to treat them fairly. The nine
characteristics are:
•
Age
•
Disability
•
Gender reassignment
•
Marriage and civil partnership
•
Pregnancy and maternity
•
Race
•
Religion or belief
•
Sex
•
Sexual orientation
The Act then provides that people and
organisations must avoid discriminating
(actively or indirectly), harassing and/or
victimising any individuals with one or more
of these characteristics.
Impact on Allotments
As allotments are managed by a local
authority, a private landowner or an
allotment association, any one of these
organisations would be required to take
steps to make sure all tenants are treated
fairly. It is important to note for allotment
associations that whilst the Act defines
an organisation as having 25 or more
members, any smaller associations would
be strongly advised to follow the same
requirements. Where the manager of the
allotments makes a physical change to the
site or changes a custom/practice to avoid
discriminating against an individual with a
protected characteristic, this is known as
making a "reasonable adjustment". When
considering what is "reasonable", the
allotment manager must consider how
the change can remove the substantial
disadvantage the person with the protected
characteristic has in contrast to tenants
without said characteristic. The manager
must then weigh this up against multiple
factors such as the cost of making the
change, the practicality of the change and
the impact on the health and safety of
other tenants.
A good example of a reasonable
adjustment could be where an allotment
that bans dogs within their site rules allow
for a tenant with a disability to take their
assistance dog on to the site. Such an
adjustment costs the association nothing,
its practical and it does not impact the
health and safety of other tenants provided
that any dog fouling is picked up. In
contrast, a poor example of a reasonable
adjustment could be where an allotment
association feels that specific races are
under-represented on the site and so they
establish a waiting list policy that prioritises
prospective tenants that are that specific
race. Such an adjustment is completely
unnecessary as a fair waiting list that
operates on a first come first served basis
already provides all prospective tenants
with the same opportunity to acquire
an allotment and so no given race is at a
significant disadvantage.
If you are in doubt about whether a
reasonable adjustment may be necessary
on your site or would like further
clarification on what is covered by the
protected characteristics, great resources
can be found from the Equality and Human
rights Commission including guides and
videos. You can also seek clarification from
the NAS as part of the free initial legal
advice that you are entitled to as an NAS
member by emailing contact@thenas.org.uk.
Tyler Harris - NAS Legal Adviser
You can also seek clarification from the NAS as
part of the free initial legal advice that you are
entitled to as an NAS member
Allotment and Leisure Gardener | Issue 2 2025 | 11