Religion or Belief

Religion or Belief/non-belief

The Religion or Belief/non-belief equality strand has been incorporated within the Council's Equality and Diversity Scheme 2009-12.The Scheme also covers age, disability, gender, race, sexual orientation and use of the Welsh language.

It is unlawful under the Equality Act Part 2 (religion or belief) to discriminate against any person (in the provisions of goods and services) on the basis of their religion or philosophical belief.

It is also unlawful to discriminate in employment or training by virtue of the Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations 2003 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2003/20031660.htm

The Human Rights Act 1998 also guarantees the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

In the 2001 Census residents in Swansea stated that:

• 71% were Christian
• 19.8% had no religion
• 7.5% did not state their religion.

Other faith groups represented in the community are:

• Buddhists 2%
• Muslims 1%
• Sikhs 1%
• Jews 1%
• Hindu 1%

The remaining 0.2% represents faiths such as Baha'i, International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), Jain, Taoism, Yungdrung Bon, etc.

Useful Links:

ACAS guidance http://www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/f/l/religion_1.pdf