WAJD Learning

Module 2 of 2 · 45 minutes

Fairness, automated decisions and buying well

By the end of this module you will be able to

  • Apply the public sector equality duty to an AI tool
  • Keep a record that equality was considered
  • State the safeguards for a solely automated decision
  • Ask the right questions when procuring AI
  • Bring the right colleagues in early

Work through it

1 interactive for this module, built on the WAJD Teach engine. Nothing moves until you ask it to, and every one has a written version if you would rather read it.

Watch: Emma and George talk it through

3 minutes. Captions are on, and the same conversation is written out in full below. The voices are computer generated.

Emma George, the supplier says their tool is unbiased. Is that the end of my equality worry?

George No, because the duty is yours. Section 149 of the Equality Act requires a public authority, in the exercise of its functions, to have due regard to eliminating discrimination and advancing equality of opportunity.

Emma Is buying software a function?

George Choosing and using a tool is an exercise of functions. And due regard has to happen before and while you decide. Not afterwards.

Emma How could a repairs tool discriminate?

George A tool trained on past decisions can repeat past unfairness. And a detail like a postcode can stand in for a protected characteristic.

Emma What do I keep?

George A record of how equality was considered. If the decision's challenged, that's how the council shows it had due regard.

Emma Is there help written for councils?

George Yes. In April 2025 the Local Government Association published a guide to procuring AI, with the London Office of Technology and Innovation, the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Information Commissioner's Office.

Emma Who should I bring in?

George It says the procurement team, an equality officer and the data protection officer. Early.

Emma Suppose the tool decides on its own who gets a priority repair.

George Then it's a solely automated decision with a significant effect. Since 5 February 2026 that's permitted on ordinary personal data, with safeguards.

Emma Which are?

George The person must be told. They must be able to make representations, obtain human intervention and contest the decision.

Emma And before we go live?

George A data protection impact assessment, alongside the equality analysis. Read together.

Emma What do I ask the supplier?

George What it does, and on what data. How it was tested for bias, with the results. What happens to the data you put in. What you can see about each output. How you monitor it. And how you leave.

Emma And the contract?

George Write in your right to the information you need for your own duties. The eighth principle of the Playbook is work with commercial colleagues from the start.

The written material

The equality duty

Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 requires a public authority, in the exercise of its functions, to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations. Choosing and using an AI tool is an exercise of functions.

Due regard has to happen before and while the decision is made, not afterwards. A tool trained on past decisions can repeat past unfairness, and a detail such as a postcode can stand in for a protected characteristic. The duty is the body's and cannot be handed to a supplier.

A guide written for councils

In April 2025 the Local Government Association published a guide to procuring AI, developed with the London Office of Technology and Innovation, the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Information Commissioner's Office. It gives councils questions to help them meet the equality duty and data protection law when buying AI.

Its scope is AI procured or commissioned by a council that can have a significant impact on citizens, or that influences the creation or delivery of policies and services. It encourages staff to involve the procurement team, an equality officer and the data protection officer, and to seek evidence of the benefits the tool actually delivers.

Automated decisions about people

Since 5 February 2026 UK data protection law permits a solely automated decision with a legal or similarly significant effect on ordinary personal data, with safeguards. The person must be told. They must be able to make representations, to obtain human intervention and to contest the decision. Stricter conditions apply where special category data is used.

For a public body the stakes are usually high: a benefit, a tenancy, a school place, a care package. A data protection impact assessment should be done before such a tool is used, alongside the equality analysis, and the two should be read together.

Buying well

The eighth principle of the Playbook is to work with commercial colleagues from the start. Most AI in public services is bought, and what the contract says decides what the body can see, test and change later.

Before signing, a body should know what the tool does and on what data, how it was tested for bias and with what results, what happens to the data put into it, what the body will be able to see about individual outputs, how it will be monitored in use, and how the body gets out if it does not work.

  • What it does, and on what data
  • How it was tested for bias, with the results
  • What happens to the data we put in
  • What we can see about each output
  • How we monitor it, and how we leave

Knowledge check

The knowledge check and your certificate need a free account, so that your progress and results can be saved as evidence.

Create a free account Sign in

The learning itself stays free and open. You are reading all of it right now without an account.