The race relations amendment act extends the original race legislation covered by the 1976 act, as the act did not cover many things, which in turn ultimately lead to a lack of meaningful progress.

The 1976 act missed out on many things such as:

• Environmental Health
• Immigration
• Police Service
• Public Authorities.

The 1999 Act strengthened employment rights and made it unlawful for any public bodies, for example, the police, to discriminate based on race.

It was brought into British legislation from the Stephen Lawerence Enquire. You can find the full report on the enquiry here.

The report inquiry was done by Sir William Macpherson Of Cluny. The report offered a series of recommendations relating to legislation and policies relating to race relations, racism, the police, the education system and the civil service and more.

His recommendations played a key role in shaping the RRAA. The reports recorded that a police officer was not covered by the 1976 Act, which the 1999 act ultimately developed.

The amendment act gives all public authorities a general duty to promote race equality as they are now directly responsible.

Their duties are to eliminate unlawful racial discrimination and promote good relations between different racial groups.

The new act aims to promote race equality by driving up standards in society and the public sector.

The full Race Relations Amendment Bill is available as a PDF download here.