CHESHIRE East Council has been slammed for failing to comply with equalities law following a national study.

Researchers at the University of Brighton found the authority had not met a number of requirements set out in the Equality Act 2010.

The act provides a legal framework to help eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations among different groups in society – such as black and minority ethnic (BAME) or lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

Academics from the Liveable Lives project, which specialises in LGBT research, looked at how authorities across England complied with the act.

They found that CEC failed to update its equality objectives by April 2016, and did not publish either annual demonstration of compliance or equality monitoring details on its website – criteria which are all required under the Equality Act 2010

The study showed that more than half of local authorities in England were failing to demonstrate compliance in 2016, while 40 per cent showed less compliance to the law than in 2014.

Professor Kath Browne, principal investigator for the research project, said: “It is clear that there are issues with local authorities’ compliance with the Equality Act 2010 and it is a cause for concern that compliance with this legislation appears to have declined.

“Whilst some local authorities noted that austerity has been a contributory factor, with budget cuts having an impact on equalities work, others seem to be more focused on justifying what they are not required to do under the legislation.”

Professor Browne added that despite the failure of many English councils to comply with the act, a large number are doing good work in relation to LGBT equality, including the promotion of same-sex marriage. 

The Guardian approached Cheshire East Council for comment.